University of Illinois at Chicago offers a 12-month ACGME-accredited fellowship in Regional Anesthesia. The fellowship offers extensive experience in performing regional anesthesia techniques and managing patients who undergo regional procedures. Multiple faculty members with diverse experiences offer a high level of clinical training. Our department consists of supportive and engaged colleagues who seek to maximize the fellows’ professional growth during their year of training with us.

Training

Fellows will rotate through Regional Anesthesia, Acute Pain Service, and Chronic Pain rotations during their fellowship.  They will perform a high volume of blocks, which include a wide variety single-shot blocks (such as supraclavicular, interscalene, femoral, PENG, popliteal), neuraxial procedures (including combined spinal-epidurals, thoracic epidurals, and continuous nerve catheters.  We seek to incorporate newer truncal techniques into our service, such as erector spinae, TAP, QL blocks.

Fellows also manage patients with epidural and peripheral nerve catheters as part of the Acute Pain Service.
Furthermore, with the opening of the new Specialty Care Building (SCB), fellows will now have experience in a high throughput regional anesthesia outpatient surgical center.  As the year progresses, fellows gain increasing independence and the focus shifting more towards supervision of residents and trainees and organizing / running the Acute Pain Service.  As an ACGME-accredited fellowship, we follow guidelines for training as stated on the ACGME website.

There is a strong scholarly focus at our program with fellowship participation in journal clubs, case conference, and grand rounds.  Active participation and presentation in national meetings, such as those put on by the American Society of Regional Anesthesia (ASRA), is facilitated by faculty members.

Fellows may choose to spend time moonlighting as an attending in the Main OR supervising residents and CRNAs for general anesthesiology cases.  This experience, for fellows who choose it, aids in growth as a physician in a supportive environment.

Goals

At the completion of our program, graduating fellows will be able to:

• Master a wide range of regional procedures, including continuous nerve blocks and epidural catheters
• Manage an Acute Pain Service, which includes rounding and optimizing management of patients with epidural and peripheral nerve catheters
• Demonstrate excellent skills in patient safety and communication to manage a Regional Anesthesia service to perform procedures safely and efficiently
• Practice evidence-based medicine to integrate new concepts and technologies into practice of Regional Anesthesia
• Practice in a multi-disciplinary setting and work with other anesthesiologists, surgeons, nurses, pharmacists, physical therapists, other medical professionals, operating room managers, and hospital administrators.

Starting with the 2024 – 2025 Fellowship year, we will be participating in the national RAAPM match through SFMATCH. Applications will be accepted starting from January 9, 2023.

Please note that the duration of the fellowship is 1 year. We accept one fellow each year and the annual salary is the PGY-5 base plus call incentives.

Contact program coordinator, Michelle Lopez Nunez, with any questions.