Program Description
During the four years of study, the first twelve months are devoted to clinical primary patient care training other than clinical anesthesia and referred to as Clinical Base. The Clinical Base Year includes six months in general internal medicine to include MICU and CCU, the remainder in other areas such as Otolaryngology, Obstetrics, Surgical ICU, Emergency Room, Radiology, and Anesthesiology. Three years are spent in Clinical Anesthesia training (CA-1, CA-2, and CA-3).
Clinical training is devoted to the actual practice of anesthesiology, which in addition to the management of anesthesia for surgical and obstetrical patients, also includes the following: pre- anesthetic evaluation of the patient; the post-anesthetic follow-up; the care of the patients in recovery and intensive care areas; the management of shock; diagnostic and therapeutic regional blocks; pain management and respiratory therapy. Exposure to specialized areas such as neurosurgical, pediatric, obstetric and cardiothoracic anesthesia and ambulatory anesthesia care is provided. Current monitoring, fluid therapy, and operating room safety are stressed. There are daily conferences and presentations on selected anesthesiology topics; monthly morbidity and mortality conferences; and monthly journal conferences.
Residency training is conducted at the Medical College of Georgia Hospitals and Clinics and the Children’s Medical Center. The program is approved by the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education. Residents are required to participate in the annual ABA In-Training Examination and the Anesthesia Knowledge Test (AKT). The faculty evaluates the residents every six months or as indicated and provides the residents an assessment of their performance.
Postgraduate teaching is limited to the residency program, but residents from other services may affiliate by appointment. Teaching of second, third, and fourth year students is integrated with the Medical College curriculum and is conducted by the Anesthesiology faculty. Residents are expected to participate in medical student education.