Program Director Welcome and Overview
Welcome to the Department of Anesthesiology at Emory School of Medicine!
The demands of modern health care have led to increasing complexity in the perioperative and critical care environments. Our program has evolved to meet these challenges and has been recognized as a leading training program for over 60 years. Our program matches rigorous clinical training with close mentoring and academic productivity.
Currently, we are in the first year of being a full Categorical Program after transitioning for three years. It has by all measures been a successful transition! Therefore, this recruitment season, we will be recruiting for ONLY 12 Categorical spots.
Anesthesia training begins with an intensive clinical introduction to Anesthesiology. CA-1s are assigned to operative cases working one-on-one with faculty for the first weeks of training. Clinical orientation is supplemented by didactic lectures and simulation in the basic principles of anesthesiology. Residents practice with graduated autonomy as they gain experience. At all times a faculty member is immediately available for consultation assistance and instruction.
CA-1 residents start training at either Emory University Hospital or Grady Memorial Hospital. Over time residents are assigned to more complex general and subspecialty cases. Subspecialty rotations such as cardiac and pediatrics start in the latter third of the CA-1 year to allow early exposure to potential fields for fellowship consideration.
The CA-2 year is dedicated to subspecialty training including cardiac, neurosurgical, vascular, pediatric, obstetric, and thoracic anesthesiology, acute and chronic pain, and critical care medicine. We are proud to have our residents rotate at Egleston Children’s Hospital (one of the highest acuity children’s hospitals in the country), the VA (Veterans Affairs), Emory University Midtown Hospital, and Grady Memorial Hospital. Rotating at multiple sites guarantees exposure to many practice and supervision models and builds flexibility and communication skills. The diversity and challenge of the clinical experiences are a major strength of the program, and an important reason our graduates are known for their outstanding clinical abilities.
The CA-3 year consists of elective rotations, research blocks, and advanced and supervisory clinical assignments. Popular rotations include Advanced Airway Management and Point-of-Care-Ultrasound.
Our POCUS (Point of Care Ultrasound) rotation has seen aggressive expansion and as a result, interns, junior AND senior anesthesia residents have an opportunity to train formally. In addition, residents are encouraged to pursue POCUS certification through the ASA (American Society of Anesthesiology).
We have recently designed a direct path such that if trainees wish to, they can pursue Basic TEE certification.
Many of our residents choose to participate in Emory Graduate Medical Education Tracks to develop skills and receive additional certification in:
- Ethics
- Global Health
- Healthcare Management
- Health Equity, Advocacy, & Policy (HEAP)
- Medical Education
- Medical Innovation
- Simulation
- Quality Improvement & Patient Safety
Rotation specific didactic sessions may consist of keywords, PBLDs (Problem Based Learning Discussions), case reviews, morbidity and mortality report, and clinical reviews. Once a month, all residents meet at Emory University for group didactics. No resident is on call the night before Didactic Day. All residents participate in mock oral exams, mock-OSCEs, and simulation.
All residents take the annual written in-training exams (ITEs) and CA1s take the Anesthesia Knowledge Test (AKT) exams. Our CA1s also take the BASIC exam and we had a 100% pass rate in 2023. Our pass rates for the ABA (American Board of Anesthesiology) exams are 97%, well over the national average of 90%.
Global Health opportunities are available in Haiti, Guatemala, Ethiopia, and Rwanda. We are proud to say that two of our PGY4s travelled as an Emory Global Health Scholar in May of 2023 to Ethiopia and had an incredibly successful rotation.
Residents are encouraged to participate in regional, state, and national anesthesiology organizations. Departmental financial support is offered to residents to travel to participate in these organizations. This year approximately 15 of our residents will be presenting at the ASA in San Francisco.
Mentorship is a vital part of our residents' success!
Residents are matched into “pods,” small groups of interns, CA-1, CA-2, and CA-3 residents with a dedicated faculty preceptor. This informal social group promotes residents getting to know other members of their program and facilitates a long-term relationship with a faculty member.
Formal professional mentoring occurs for each resident by faculty through our Mentor ME program. Mentor ME is a one-on-one mentoring program for Emory Anesthesiology Residents. Each resident is matched with a mentor starting from the first year through the final training year. The mission of the program is to actively assist, support, and provide direction to all residents in the Emory Anesthesiology Residency Program with the goal of fostering wellness, stimulating personal and academic growth, and developing excellent, perioperative clinicians.
Our TEAM!
Dr. Michele Romej is the Associate Program Director at Emory University Hospital.
Dr. Sona Arora is the Associate Program Director at Grady Memorial Hospital.
Dr. Austin DeBeaux is an Associate Program Director and the Internship Director.
We work closely with our Fellowship Program Directors, our Vice Chair of Education, Dr. McKenzie Hollon, and our Chair, Dr. Andrew Patterson, to continually evolve our program.
Together, our team's mission is to guide our residents to become our colleagues as excellent anesthesiologists and leaders in the field.
If you have questions regarding training in Anesthesiology at Emory University School of Medicine, please contact our Program Coordinator, Mrs. Chanta Randall, at 404-778-3903
Best wishes,
Susan A. Smith, MD
Residency Program Director
Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care
Liver Transplant Anesthesia Fellowship Program Director
Emory University School of Medicine
Atlanta, GA
susan.a.smith@emory.edu