Biannual written and oral examinations also help residents assess their progress and assess their areas of strength and weakness. The first two weeks of Anesthesiology Residency Training is devoid of clinical duties. New residents learn by mentoring or role modeling as they observe faculty and senior residents in the operating room. The new residents are instructed on the use of various resources, ie, internet, classic texts, journals and interactive software to solve basic problems. The remainder of the orientation month is spent paired with faculty or senior residents and are relieved for additional case based discussions and workshops.
Residents take no call during their first month of training.
Some first year residents also get the opportunity to complete a month of regional anesthesia at the Long Beach VA Medical Center. You will spend two weeks assigned to the Post Anesthesia Care Unit. The PG III year is divided into a series of one-month subspecialty rotations at several medical centers. This 15 bed unit is managed by the Department of Anesthesiology along with a team that includes an anesthesia intensivist faculty, two PG-V fellows, two anesthesia residents and a surgical resident. The third year of residency gives senior residents an opportunity to focus on the sub-specialty area where they have the highest interest.