Education / Graduate Medical Education / Prospective Fellows / Anesthesiology Adult Cardiothoracic Fellowship / Curriculum

Curriculum & Educational Activities

Clinical Rotations

Twelve 4 week rotation blocks, including:

One Thoracic blocks
Six Cardiac OR blocks
Two Perioperative Echocardiography blocks
One Cardiac Surgical ICU block
One Congenital Cardiac block
One Elective blocks, Samples are below:
- Perfusion / ECMO
- Acute Shock Program / ECMO Transport
- Transfusion medicine
- Research (pre-authorized project approval required)
- Cardiac Catheterization
- Electrophysiology
- Pediatric / Congenital Echocardiography
- Cardiology Critical Care
- Cardiac Surgery
- Point of Care Ultrasound

Didactics

Fellows are offered one to two didactic sessions per week dedicated to the specialty of Adult Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology. These include two seminar tracks including Clinical Management Seminars and Perioperative Echocardiography Seminars.

Sample weekly lecture topics:

Pre-op evaluation and preparation of the pt for heart surgery
Monitoring the CT surgery pt
Valvular disease aortic/pulmonary
Valvular disease mitral/tricuspid

Ischemic heart disease
Valve repair/replacement
Pharmacology of CV anesthetics
Pharmacology of inotropes
Thoracic Aortic Disease
Minimally invasive surgery
Pharmacology of vasodilators and vasoconstrictors
Surgery on the thoracic aorta
Neoplastic and infectious disease of the heart
Anticoagulation for CPB and reversal
Pacemakers

Non-Clinical Time

Fellows receive 20 vacation days and 5 meeting days per year.

Additionally, Non-Clinical time is allocated into 26 academic days to assist fellows in meeting the academic requirements of the program. These academic days should be used for educational and scholarly pursuits, including but not limited to:

Reading and preparation for scheduled didactic seminars and board examinations
Performing Perioperative Echo examinations and reviewing TEE studies with faculty
Preparation of presentations to the division, department, or hospital
Review, selection, and preparation of clinically challenging cases for publication or presentation
Preparation of presentations or posters for academic meetings
Scholarship activities structured to support eventual publication

Additional Education Activities

Support and mentorship to complete required scholarly projects, including complex case presentation to the SCA meeting, grand rounds presentation, and a quality improvement project.
Multidisciplinary Heart Dissection “Wet Lab” - a collaboration with cardiology and cardiac surgery; a porcine dissection lab with 2-d and 3-d echocardiographic and clinical correlates
Ultrasound Physics Seminars in preparation for the Advanced Board examination
Echo reading sessions to help create a rounded exposure to pathology and ensure case volume
“Perfusion Day” at SUNY upstate in Syracuse – a field trip to Syracuse where fellows learn the CPB machine in more depth and participate in a CPB simulator experience
Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) Education Days and Seminars – an ongoing educational series for residents taught by UR faculty on basic TTE, lung, TEE, FAST, gastric, and airway. Fellows participate as learners in an early session and may participate as educators or course designers later in the year.
Multidisciplinary Cardiac Surgery and Anesthesiology Journal Club - quarterly fellow-lead conference where our departments review current literature and discuss clinical and patient care implications. Dates will be scheduled and distributed to fellows. Please see Academic Time and Expectations section for more information.
Mock Oral Examinations – arranged multiple times a year for fellows and residents who have not taken the Applied examination; fellows should request participation if needed.
Multiple multidisciplinary quality assurance / QI meetings with the cardiac surgical group, structural heart team, ECMO/VAD group, and EP group