Regional and Acute Pain Fellowship

The mission of the Regional and Acute Pain Fellowship Program at University of Rochester Medicine is to train fellows who provide exceptional care to the people of Western New York and its surrounding areas. Our goal is to provide fellows with the tools necessary to become Regional and Acute Pain specialists in a safe learning environment where our team-based comprehensive acute pain management care is of the highest quality and education and research are among our most valued priorities. Fellows will also become proficient in the management of acute postoperative pain with an emphasis on multidisciplinary enhanced recovery pathways to prepare them for future work in either private practice or academics. 

The University of Rochester Regional and Acute Pain fellowship provides training experience in both the inpatient and ambulatory surgery center settings. Strong Memorial is a large University Hospital and Level I Trauma Center, which provides the opportunity to perform a wide range of advanced peripheral nerve blocks and catheters for surgical and trauma patients. These interventions are routinely performed for patients on the orthopedic trauma, vascular, cardiothoracic, liver transplant, urology, general surgery and plastics services. The Regional and Acute Pain fellow will spend the majority of time on the Acute Pain Service, which is directed by Regional and Acute Pain trained faculty under the Division of Acute Pain. If desired, there is also the opportunity to diversify the fellowship experience by spending time on other services, such as Addiction Medicine, Palliative Care, Pediatric Anesthesia, and Chronic Pain.

The Ambulatory Orthopedic Center is a busy, efficient ambulatory surgical center near Strong Memorial Hospital, where we perform a high volume of peripheral nerve blocks for orthopedic surgery. Here, our fellows learn how to do basic blocks safely and efficiently. Once that is mastered, fellows will learn the skills needed to supervise junior residents in a safe and timely manner.

Our faculty are leading many initiatives to improve patient care and fellows will be expected to be involved with at least one project, but there is opportunity to be involved with multiple projects if desired. Examples of these efforts include, but are not limited to:

• ERAS protocol including regional anesthesia to improve clinical outcomes in cardiac surgery
• Pain protocols for urologic surgery patients (kidney stones, nephrectomies, prostatectomies)
• Opioid-sparing ERAS protocol for PCNL surgery
• Geriatric pain education, techniques, and the use of nerve blocks in geriatric hip fracture and rib fracture patients
• Retrospective review analysis of brachial plexus blocks for shoulder surgery (duration of action, adjuvant medications, resident level of training)

The goal of the fellowship is for trainees to become experts in performing safe and efficient nerve blocks and to be competent in advanced block techniques and comprehensive acute pain management. Once this is accomplished, the fellow will learn how to effectively teach and supervise anesthesiology residents and other trainees.