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Visiting Professor, Morbidity/Mortality and Quality Assurance Case Conference consists of Case Conference, a morbidity/mortality and quality assurance (QA) conference or a lecture from a nationally recognized expert on a topic of interest. It takes place each Thursday from 6:45-8:00 a.m. (the operating rooms begin their elective schedule an hour later on Thursdays). In Case Conference, cases of interest from the various clinical divisions are presented, and discussed by faculty and residents. For the morbidity/mortality and quality assurance conference, departmental QA data or cases are presented. Our Visiting Professors are nationally recognized experts who lecture on topics of interest. The speakers often spend the rest of the day in the department, interacting with the faculty and residents. We have a variety of academic conferences for our residents. Morning orientation conferences are held from 6:25-7:00 a.m. during the month of July for our CA-1 residents. At that time, faculty members formally introduce the new CA1 residents to the practice of anesthesiology by presenting basic topics that include basic pharmacology and physiology, evaluation and management of the airway, setting up and troubleshooting the anesthesia machine. Beginning September and for the remainder of the academic year, each resident class is relieved from their clinical duties once a week to attend the 4-5 p.m. core curriculum conferences. The topic of each conference follows the curriculum that is targeted for each level of training and may follow one of several formats. Problem-Based Learning Discussions are case-based, small-group, problem-oriented, resident-centered discussion in an informal, collegial and supportive learning environment which lends itself to the interchange of ideas. The case scenarios are distributed in advance of the session and allow the resident to embark on an individual study program to identify and solve the problems posed in the case before the group discussion. These sessions are moderated/facilitated by faculty members. Curriculum Lectures are formal presentations by a faculty member on basic and major topics in our field. The objective of the academic afternoons is to completely cover the entire curriculum over a three-year cycle. To supplement the core curriculum conferences, information related to keywords that identify topics from the A.B.A. Written Certifying examinations are researched by the residents, reviewed by the attending staff then posted on our intranet website. Multiple choice questions are included to help the resident assess their acquisition of knowledge. Journal Clubs are usually held during subspecialty rotations and at faculty residence to discuss articles with a common theme. The articles are distributed to the residents before the session. Either a visiting professor that is specifically invited for the session or a member of the faculty lead these sessions. The clinical divisions sponsor their own subspecialty conferences for the residents on their rotation. These include the Cardiac Case Conference, Critical Care Lecture Series, Critical Care Grand Rounds, Joint Pediatric Anesthesia/Pediatric Critical Care Conference, Multidisciplinary Pediatric Pain Conference, Neuroanesthesia Morning Report, Pain Medicine Conference, Obstetrical Anesthesia Case Conference, Pediatric Anesthesia Case Conference & Journal Club, and Pediatric Anesthesia Cardiac Case Conference & Journal Club. Finally, the department sponsors a number of annual Special Events |
Departmental rounds and conferences make up the core of the didactic curriculum for the residents.