Didactic Educational Program
A didactic and educational program specifically dedicated to regional anesthesia practice is also a part of fellowship training.
1. The regional fellow shall be expected to deliver a Grand Rounds lecture including a relevant literature review at least once during the course of the fellowship. He/she shall also present at the Tuesday Department Case Conference at least once during the course of the fellowship.
2. The regional fellow shall continually review the current literature on regional anesthesia and select a minimum of two articles per month to discuss with a member of the regional anesthesia faculty.
3. The regional fellow will have the opportunity to learn teaching techniques by educating junior residents, medical students, and CRNAs during the academic year.
4. By completion of the regional fellowship, the fellow is expected to have a working knowledge base consisting of the following:
Understands general attributes of local anesthetic pharmacology
Understands specific clinical attributes of various local anesthetics, including onset duration, motor/sensory differentiation, toxicity and treatment
Understands principles and indications for various local anesthetic adjuvants, including epinephrine, phenylephrine, opioids, sodium bicarbonate and clonidine
Understands principles of, and options for, regional anesthetic procedures
Understands complications of regional anesthetic techniques
Understands principles of regional anesthesia as they apply to pain management
Understands outcome studies related to the influence of regional anesthesia on perioperative outcome
Has familiarity with major scientific studies related to regional anesthesia
Conferences
Morning conferences are held four days a week.
Monday: Pediatric Anesthesia Conference, 6:45 to 7:15 a.m.
Tuesday: Department Case Conference, 6:45 to 7:15 a.m.
Wednesday: Departmental Grand Rounds, 7:00 to 8:00 a.m.
Thursday: Resident Conference, 6:45 to 7:15 a.m. (optional)
The fellows are expected to attend these conferences on a regular basis except for the Monday Pediatric Conference and Thursday resident conference which are optional.
Computer Resources
All fellows have ready access to intradepartmental, campus-wide and Internet computer facilities to assist with literature searches, research activities, lecture presentations, and self-paced programmed education. Our library maintains an up-to-date collection of computer assisted interactive educational software programs. Computer facilities are available 24 hours a day to allow fellows free access to the latest methods of education in anesthesia. The department has a staff of computer specialists with expertise in educational software, word processing, data storage and retrieval, statistical analysis, and multimedia presentation techniques. Fellows are encouraged to utilize these facilities to assist in research endeavors and to supplement the more traditional didactic and clinically based educational experiences. The department provides support for handheld PDAs and maintains educational site for handhelds
(http://pda.aims.unc.edu/).
Library
The library of the Department of Anesthesiology provides excellent educational resources for residents, fellows, faculty, and staff. The Department subscribes to many anesthesiology publications, which are reserved exclusively for members of the department. The library also includes computer workstations with online training software. The library is available for the department use only and is always open for study and research. The Health Sciences Library is located in close proximity to the UNC hospitals complex. The library contains 333,493 total volumes and receives 4,116 serial titles. Electronic journals and books and databases such as PubMed, CINAHL, ISI Citation Databases, BIOSIS, PsychINFO, eFacts, and Lexi-Comp are available anywhere on campus. Faculty, staff, and students can access almost all electronic resources from home. A total renovation of the library building was completed in early 2005, adding high end technology options, group study spaces, and a coffee shop.