Distinguishing AA's and PA's . An applicant must possess a bachelor's degree . Many types of majors are acceptable for admission, although traditional premedical courses such as biology, chemistry, physics, and math are essential. The first semester is composed of classroom and laboratory-based teaching. Each successive semester incorporates escalating clinical duties and responsibilities until semesters five through seven, which are mainly clinical rotations in several areas of anesthesia practice.
Students learn to administer all types of anesthesia.
Case Western materials state that during their last three semesters, students complete month-long rotations in all subspecialties of anesthesiology, including ambulatory surgery, burns and trauma, cardiothoracic surgery, general surgery, neurosurgery, obstetrics, pediatrics, surgical intensive care unit, and pain service. Emory also has students go through clinical rotations in specialty areas of practice such as pediatrics or obstetrics. Both the Case Western and Emory programs graduate AAs with a master's degree. In 1999, the Emory Web site said that as of August 1996, there were 370 graduates from Emory from 26 classes, with the first class graduating in 1971 . It also said that, in 1999, there were about 60 students in the two Emory classes enrolled at that time.