Educational Activities
Lahey Hospital & Medical Center Anesthesiology residents share their research at a variety of professional conferences. (Photos taken pre-COVID.)
Residents are scheduled to attend daily didactic conferences. These conferences include faculty lectures from the didactic lecture curriculum, resident presentations, board review questions, simulation sessions, wellness activities, OSCE and oral board practice sessions. The only exception not to attend these conferences is, if the resident is involved in a patient care activity which provides a better learning experience than the conference. Few examples are: performing a regional block, waking up a craniotomy, coming off bypass, cerebral aneurysm clipping etc.
Didactic Lecture Series
The curriculum of the didactic lecture series is based on the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) Content Outline. The sessions follow the Basic and Advanced Examination topics and are interactive. Every July these conferences focus on introductory Anesthesiology topics for the new CA 1 class.
Simulation
During FCS (PGY 1) anesthesiology rotation, there are two extensive 1:1 simulation sessions. The first session contains basic anesthetic techniques practice e.g. intravenous access, monitors, machine check, OR preparation, induction of anesthesia and airway management. The second session occurs after two weeks and contains advanced anesthetic techniques e.g. arterial line placement, neuraxial anesthesia, and use of ultrasound for intravenous access and regional blocks.
During the CA1-3 years, the simulation curriculum is covered during two monthly simulation sessions (Wednesday afternoon). The sessions vary from team-based, crisis management scenarios to development of technical and communications skills using simulated patients and simulators. Simulation and didactic curriculum also include sessions focused on training of ultrasound techniques (POCUS/TEE/TTE/FAST).
Daily Lectures
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, from 9:45 am to 10:30 am and Friday, from 11:15 am to 12:00 pm.
Keyword Sessions
Every Wednesday morning from 6:30 AM – 7:00 AM: residents make short presentations on high yield topics identified from the knowledge gap reports of various standardized Anesthesiology tests (e.g. ITE, basic and advanced exams). These sessions are supervised and moderated by a faculty member.
Board Review Questions
Two to three weeks prior to the Basic and Advanced exams, the daily resident conferences will become targeted board review sessions to help prepare residents for the exam.
OSCE Practice Sessions
There is one monthly session dedicated to the practice of the OSCE exam. The ABA content outline for the OSCE exam is covered in these sessions. Every session is followed by debriefing and feedback.
Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) and Echocardiography Sessions
POCUS and echocardiography (TEE and TTE) training includes didactic lectures for basics functioning and principles and hands on training sessions on our TEE and TTE simulator. The ultrasound training sessions cover regional, thoracic and abdominal ultrasound.
Departmental Conferences
There are regular departmental conferences from 7:00 AM – 8:10 AM on Wednesdays and include grand rounds, clinical practice reviews (CPRs), Journal Club, visiting speakers and Outcome Process and Peer Review (OPPs) conferences. Residents are expected to actively participate in all of these conferences either in person or virtually.
Research, QI Project & Scholarly Activities
The residents cover an online quality improvement course (IHI) during PGY 1 year. In CA 1 year, under faculty supervision, residents are required to complete and present a quality improvement project. The departmental quality improvement team is a great resource for residents to identify and execute quality improvement projects.
Residents are also encouraged to complete a clinical study or research project worthy of submission to a peer-reviewed journal during residency training.
The resident can use some of their elective time to complete ongoing research projects. The residents are encouraged to present posters, case reports and clinical trials at regional and national conferences.