Education/Call Schedule

The Department of Anesthesiology provides the four-year curriculum required by the American Board of Anesthesiology for certification as a consultant anesthesiologist.

The program is structured in a manner, which ensures residents acquire sufficient levels of knowledge, clinical/technical skills and judgment to allow them to be competent in all areas of the specialty, meeting the criteria to become certified as consultants in anesthesiology.

Education

CA-1 Bootcamp

This one day comprehensive training session is designed for residents beginning their training in anesthesiology to give them a strong knowledge base focused on the fundamentals of anesthesia.

Resident Learning Lab (RLL)

Every other Tuesday, clinical duties step aside so residents can focus fully on becoming better physicians. RLL is our protected academic half-day, built around the ABA content outline and grounded in the science of adult learning, because we know residents retain more by doing than by listening.

Sessions rotate through a dynamic mix of:

• Case-based discussions and problem-based learning (PBLDs)
• High-fidelity simulation and mock oral boards
• Hands-on procedural workshops
• Journal clubs and board review
• Interactive, faculty-led lectures

To make sure every resident gets this time without compromising patient care, each session runs twice, once in the morning and once in the afternoon.

But RLL isn't just about clinical mastery. A longitudinal professional development track brings in physicians and outside experts in business, finance, and wellness to cover the things residency often skips- contract negotiation, practice models, personal finance, retirement planning, and leadership. The goal is simple: residents who leave UC ready for clinical excellence and a confident transition into independent practice.

And because our residents help shape it, RLL never goes stale. The curriculum evolves continuously through direct feedback and faculty-resident collaboration.

Intern Power Hour

Anesthesiology starts the moment you match, not the moment you start CA-1. Power Hour is our longitudinal curriculum designed exclusively for interns, giving them a running start before residency truly begins.

Held monthly and structured around Morgan & Mikhail's Clinical Anesthesiology, each session pairs independent pre-reading with faculty-led discussion and board-style questions. It's an approach built for retention, not just exposure.

By the time our interns step into the OR as CA-1s, they already have a framework for perioperative decision-making, a foundation in core concepts, and the confidence that comes from feeling prepared instead of thrown in.

ASA Toolbox

Every UC resident gets complimentary access to ASA Toolbox, the American Society of Anesthesiologists' premier online learning platform. Aligned with the ABA curriculum, it offers:

• Board-style practice questions
• High-yield learning modules
• Interactive clinical cases
• Procedural videos
• Personalized performance analytics

Woven directly into our RLL and Power Hour curricula, ASA Toolbox gives residents a self-directed way to reinforce what they're learning, track their own growth, and walk into the ITE, and eventually the boards, with confidence.

True Learn

CA-1-CA-3 Residents are provided a subscription to the True Learn question banks appropriate to their training level which helps them prepare for the in-training exam, and the ABA Basic and ABA Advanced exams.

Simulation & OSCEs

The fundamental tenet of the simulation program at the University of Cincinnati is experiential learning. Residents are encouraged to immerse themselves in the scenario and treat it as they would any encounter with a real patient. None of the simulations are graded or used in overall resident evaluations, they are simply a mechanism to promote reflection and deeper learning, in essence, “learning by doing”.

In an effort to make the scenarios as believable and immersive as possible, many of our manikin-based scenarios are run in the actual operating room, rather than a simulation center, so the environment and anesthetic equipment is exactly the same as you use in every day cases and it is more convenient to attend.

Simulation is presented in a wide range of modalities, with experienced, enthusiastic faculty and well-tested scenarios. Trained standardized patients (SP’s) are used for ultrasound training, in the fashion of the American Board of Anesthesiology’s Applied portion of the Board exam. SP’s are also involved in patient encounter scenarios, similar to those seen on the Board exam and can play the role of either a patient or another healthcare provider. We also provide routine high-fidelity manikin training with weekly sessions involving 3-5 residents. The manikin-based training is centered around scenarios classically seen as “high-risk, low-frequency” events.

Also, select scenarios are focused on pieces of equipment in the OR that are not frequently used, yet require skill to utilize them safely, such as the flexible fiber optic bronchoscope and the defibrillator. We also provide a critical care skills lab once per year which includes manikin-based simulation for ECMO cannulation and cadaver-based training for surgical airway, among other things. Finally, we have a shared cardiac ultrasound simulator where both transesophageal and transthoracic ultrasound is learned and practiced. All simulation scenarios include debriefing after the scenario concludes.

Journal Clubs

Journal club is held every other month it order to critically appraise current literature. Two articles are selected for resident presentation.

Grand Rounds\M & M Case Presentations

Departmental Grand Rounds are held on Wednesday mornings from 7 to 8.

Grand Rounds consists of presentations on various anesthesia topics given by residents, fellows and faculty. Visiting professors are also a regular part of our Grand Rounds. A Quality Assurance Case Presentation Session occurs once a month as well.

Subspecialty Lectures
Various subspecialty groups, including pediatric anesthesia, OB anesthesia, pain management and critical care, have their own didactic programs.

Mock Oral Exams
CA-2 and CA-3 residents participate in Mock Oral Exams patterned after those of the American Board of Anesthesiology. The Department has two ABA Oral Board Examiners.

Global Humanitarian Outreach Elective - Belize, C.A.

The residents may elect to spend 1 week during the CA-3 year providing anesthetic care for patients in a low-income, low-resource, country.

The resident is expected to provide the full spectrum of anesthetic care to patients of all ages and socio-economic backgrounds as part of the medical/surgical mission team.

UC Health Science Library/Clinical Key

Residents may take full advantage of the many resources available at the UC HSL including a multitude of textbooks for anesthesia, critical care, OB and may other topics.

Subscriptions include Elsevier Clinical Key, Scopus and Pubmed.

Call Schedule

Our call schedule is intentionally designed to balance exceptional clinical education with resident well-being while providing progressive responsibility throughout training. We continually evaluate our call structure based on resident feedback, educational outcomes, and departmental growth to ensure residents receive outstanding exposure to emergency anesthesiology while maintaining a sustainable learning environment.

Night Float

Night Float is currently staffed by CA2 and CA3 residents and provides concentrated exposure to trauma, transplantation, emergency surgery, and other high-acuity overnight cases that are fundamental to anesthesiology training.

Each CA2 and CA3 resident completes a total of four weeks of Night Float during their CA2 and CA3 years of residency training. Based on resident feedback, these experiences are divided into two two-week blocks distributed throughout each academic year (during the CA2 and CA3 years), allowing residents to return with increasing clinical maturity while minimizing prolonged periods of overnight work.

Based on the current residency complement, one or two Night Float residents are scheduled during each block, Monday through Friday from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. When two Night Float residents are assigned, overnight operating room call is fully covered by the Night Float team. During single Night Float coverage, a second-call resident provides additional overnight support.

Second call incorporates all CA levels of training and is a 24-hour weekday call that complements blocks with a single Night Float resident. These shifts are assigned more frequently to CA1 residents because of the CA2 and CA3 Night Float rotations. As our residency continues to expand, we remain committed to thoughtfully evolving the Night Float model to maximize educational opportunities while supporting resident wellness.

Weekend Call Shifts

Weekend calls are covered by two-resident teams, ensuring excellent educational opportunities while maintaining a collaborative approach to caring for complex surgical patients. One member of the team is always a senior resident (CA2 or CA3), providing mentorship and leadership for junior residents while caring for trauma, transplant, vascular, emergency, and other urgent surgical cases. The other resident may be either a CA1 resident or a senior resident.

Weekend call responsibilities are distributed equitably across each residency class, with progressive responsibility reflecting residents' increasing clinical experience.

Call shifts are 24-hour shifts, scheduled from 6:45 a.m. to 6:45 a.m. the following day, on both Saturdays and Sundays.

Obstetric Anesthesiology

Residents on the Obstetric Anesthesiology service work structured 12-hour shifts (6:45 a.m.–6:45 p.m. or 6:45 p.m.–6:45 a.m.) that provide continuous exposure to labor analgesia, cesarean delivery, obstetric emergencies, and multidisciplinary obstetric care.

Most scheduled shifts are weekday daytime shifts. Each resident on the OB rotation at UCMC works two weekend daytime shifts and two weekend overnight shifts.

Pediatric Anesthesiology

The Pediatric Anesthesiology rotation is intentionally designed to maximize daytime clinical education without routine overnight or weekend call responsibilities. CA3 residents participate in one Saturday daytime clinical shift during the rotation, allowing additional exposure to pediatric surgical cases while preserving the educational focus of the rotation.

Critical Care

Call responsibilities vary according to the critical care rotation and clinical service. Residents participate in supervised in-house call schedules that provide extensive experience managing critically ill surgical patients while working alongside multidisciplinary critical care teams.

Acute Inpatient Pain Service

Residents rotating on the Acute Inpatient Pain Service participate in weekend inpatient pain rounds with faculty on two weekend mornings during their assigned rotation block. These experiences reinforce continuity of care for patients with complex acute and chronic pain conditions while providing additional opportunities for multidisciplinary learning outside the procedural suite.

On Call Facilities

Residents are provided with private sleeping and bath facilities, vending and food, a lounge and 24-hour access to computer, library and study facilities.

Training Facilities

Residents train at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, West Chester Hospital, West Chester Hospital Surgical Center

UC Health Pain Medicine Center.CA-2 residents train in OB Anesthesia at the Good Samaritan Hospital and Cardiothoracic Anesthesia at Bethesda Hospital.