Curriculum

The UofR is widely regarded as a leader in resident education. You'll see why when you become acquainted with our unique training model which seamlessly incorporates OR anesthesia starting in September of your PGY-1 year. The benefits of this early exposure are obvious – most important is that rather than "getting through" your intern training, it is woven into your experience learning anesthesiology. All the rotations you do in the hospital will be through the lens of becoming an expert consultant in anesthesiology. We have a dedicated faculty who are invested in your education and enough clinical substrate to easily offer excellent clinical fellowships in Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology, Critical Care Medicine, Pain Management, and Pediatric Anesthesiology. At the advanced simulation center, you'll practice crisis management and gain skills in transesophageal and transthoracic echocardiography through our Point of Care Ultrasound curriculum starting from your intern year! We also host a multidisciplinary advanced airway workshop including the newest airway tools, fiber-optic intubations, and even surgical airways on pig tracheas. You'll have access to our unique Research or Education training pathways, which provide instruction, protected time, and the ability to graduate with distinction in these areas.

The clinical training here is outstanding. The University of Rochester is a nationally ranked medical center, the only Level 1 Trauma Center in the region, and one of only 65 accredited burn centers in the country. At Strong Memorial Hospital, we have over 60 anesthetizing locations a day - the majority of which involve caring for patients with complex pathology or who are critically ill. You will learn to manage high-risk obstetrics, advanced neurosurgical procedures, a wide range of thoracic cases, complicated pediatric and adult congenital cases, and complex traumas and burns. You will rotate through our affiliated community hospital, Highland Hospital, as well as our ambulatory surgical center to experience private practice models and become extremely comfortable with nerve blocks – it's not unusual for a resident to graduate with over 200 blocks!

One benefit of primarily being under one roof is that our residents build unparalleled camaraderie with each other. We spend countless lunches and breaks together, building lasting friendships. This also means that on any given day you have the opportunity to do subspecialty cases outside of your scheduled rotations. Instead of doing one-month blocks of OB anesthesia separated by a year or more, you’ll have many days in between refreshing and refining your skills. On any given day you could go from a neuro case to thoracic, vascular, peds and then do an epidural or block. Because of the breadth and depth of exposure offered by the training here, our graduates are highly sought after and have historically had their pick of post-residency opportunities - whether it be securing a private practice job in a desirable location or matching in a competitive fellowship.

The future of anesthesiology is changing, and at the UofR you'll be equipped to lead that change from the front lines.  We have wholeheartedly bought into the Perioperative Surgical Home and are leading the wave.  You'll get experience at our cutting-edge Center for Perioperative Medicine and see why Rochester has a reputation of innovation in the perioperative surgical home initiative.