University of Illinois at Chicago - College of Medicine

Main menu:

Info for:

You are here:

Chicago » Education, Departments & Programs » Departments » UIC Anesthesiology » Residency » The Program

The Program

The residency at UIC is divided into two distinct periods:

One year-of general clinical training (clinical base year or internship)
Three years of clinical anesthesia training

The clinical anesthesia training is further divided into:

Basic anesthesia training ( CA-1)
Subspecialty anesthesia training ( CA-2)
Advanced anesthesia training ( CA-3)

Our department offers two modes of entry.

The first is via the National Resident Match Program (NRMP). These applicants match for positions at the PGY-1 level (also known as CA-0 or intern level) only. They will do the majority of their internship rotations at the UIC Medical Center and at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center.

The second mode of entry is by individual application to the department outside the NRMP. This method is only for entry at the CA-1 through CA-3 training levels. It is a common mode of entry for physicians with prior training, such as an internal medicine resident or a pediatrician switching to anesthesiology.

We understand that unique situations arise and we maintain a very flexible attitude. We frequently will let you start your CA-1 training in mid-year to accommodate unusual situations.

OVERVIEW OF THE PROGRAM

Program Goals

The goals of the University of Illinois at Chicago Anesthesiology Residency Program are 1) to educate residents in all areas of anesthesiology knowledge, 2) to train residents in necessary procedural and clinical skills, and 3) to demonstrate, develop and foster professional and interpersonal behavior, so that residents meet the requirements for the American Board of Anesthesiology’s certification process. Such residents should be proficient to practice anesthesiology in either academic or private practice settings.

Each training year, and each rotation within each year, has its own educational goals and objectives. These goals and objectives shall be distributed to residents prior to starting a rotation, and prior to the beginning of a new training level. Residents should read and understand them, and go over them with rotation-specific faculty and/or their advisor to best understand how to achieve them. Residency training is a four-year process, a team effort by the resident and the faculty, with an emphasis on progressive independence, constantly improving and evolving knowledge, and development of a professional and ethical attitude and mindset that defines the finest physicians. Meeting the goals and objectives of the training years and rotations is the pathway of this process.

The Three Domains of Education

Throughout their training, residents are supervised and encouraged by anesthesiology faculty and staff members. Residents may not be successful at tasks the first time. It is important that residents reflect on their performance, seek feedback and guidance from faculty, and improve and eventually succeed. This cycle of self-reflection, feedback and improvement is the key to life-long learning and mastery of the skills necessary to become an independent, competent anesthesiologist.

The education and development of an anesthesiologist in training, like any learning experience, involves three domains of learning. The three domains of learning are knowledge, skills, and attitude.

Knowledge - Knowledge and information processing
Skills – Technical and clinical procedures requiring hand-eye coordination
Attitude- Behaviors and aptitudes for patient care and management, and the resident’s approach to learning

The ACGME Competencies

In recent years there has been a great deal of work devoted to what makes a competent doctor. The ACGME, which oversees all residency training, has defined six General Competencies for all residents.

http://www.acgme.org/Outcome/

All residents are required to receive training in these competencies as it relates to their specialties, and the residency program is required to evaluate residents in all of the six competencies.

The six General Competencies are:

Patient Care
Medical Knowledge
Practice-based Learning and Improvement
Interpersonal and Communication Skills
Professionalism
Systems-based Practice

The goals and objectives for each resident rotation are organized according to these competencies to help residents understand how the competencies fit into their daily practice, and to understand what is required to receive successful evaluations at the end of each rotation and during the entire residency program.

Progressive Responsibility and Independence

Anesthesiology residency training is a graduated process. At each stage during the three clinical anesthesia years, residents are presented with new challenges. These are designed to help residents develop their skills in a graded way and allow residents to become independent clinicians capable of performing all aspects of anesthesia care. Residents are supervised at all times during their training and should always summon assistance if needed, but central to achieving practice independence is progressive independence in judgment and skill performance. Residents should both seek and expect this independence as they advance in their training.

Professionalism

The department and the ACGME expect residents to show a pledge to fulfilling their professional responsibilities and to observe ethical principles at all times.

Unprofessional behavior is the cause of many disciplinary actions that state medical boards take against physicians. The following is a list of some of the unacceptable behaviors that help define a lack of professionalism: