Education:

Medical Student Rotation in Anesthesiology

The Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Michigan Medical school offers a four week elective period to third and fourth year U of M medical students during their assigned time in the "Surgical Specialties." This rotation is also available to interested students from other medical schools (see below.) Personalized, on-the-spot teaching and experience will be available to all students no matter what their future area of practice may be. During a four week clerkship, students will receive the essential and basic training in this specialized branch of medicine.  

The Department of Anesthesiology is committed to achieving the following educational objectives during the four week rotation:

1. Introduce principles of acute medicine as it is practiced in managing the anesthetized patient in the operating room and in managing the patient in the recovery unit.

2. Discuss and demonstrate principles of applied physiology and applied pharmacology.

3. Review principles of and teach skills in resuscitation (cardiopulmonary, cerebral, fluid and others).

4. Teach care of the unconscious patient, including airway and ventilation management.

5. Teach management of fluid, electrolyte, and metabolic disturbances in the surgical patient, with specific emphasis on those derangements which are encountered in the anesthetized patient.

6. Review management of acute and chronic pain problems.

7. Introduce concepts of drug interactions, especially as they apply to patients receiving anesthesia.

8. Demonstrate the evaluation of patients relative to surgical and anesthetic risk.

9. Teach appropriate preoperative preparation of patients subjected to surgery and anesthesia.

10. Introduce the various techniques of anesthesiology.

In order to achieve these objectives, the student taking an anesthesia rotation will participate in supervised patient care in and out of the operating room. She/he will be assigned patients daily to examine, evaluate and determine the anesthetic management for their surgical procedure. Each patient will be discussed in detail with a staff anesthesiologist or a resident so that the reasons for decisions may be presented along with suggested reading assignments related to the problem. There will be almost a one-to-one teacher-pupil relationship which allows a tutorial approach.

To further assist the student in attaining these goals we offer the following clinical and didactic experiences. Students will receive their clinical assignments in University Hospital or the Veterans Administration Hospital (visiting students will only be assigned to the University Hospital.) In addition to the clinical assignments, all students will take part in the didactic sessions offered in the department. Reading assignments and tutorials will be presented dealing with basic problems relating to the field of anesthesiology. On Thursday mornings, "Grand Rounds" are held for the entire department. Monday through Wednesday and Friday mornings there is a clinical anesthesia conference from 6:55 to 7:20 for all personnel scheduled to work in the Main operating rooms.

Two standard textbooks, (Stoelting and Miller: Basic Concepts of Anesthesiology and Lebowitz: Clinical Anesthesia Procedures of the Massachusetts General Hospital) along with several important reprints and handouts will be issued to each student at the beginning of the clerkship. The students are expected to read the Stoelting and Miller text and the handouts during the first two weeks of the clerkship. The texts and other reading material are reviewed and updated from time to time. No formal lectures (for medical students) will be given. We encourage active learning through required reading, frequent tutorials and small group discussions. Tutorials for medical students are given 2-3 times a week in the afternoon.

Each student may be assigned to approximately one night of call per month while he/she is on the service. This on-call assignment will be until 11:00 p.m., during which time the student will have the opportunity to observe and take part in the care of patients undergoing emergency operations, management of cardiac arrest, acute respiratory problems, the emergency room patients, etc.

More Information

For information on how to apply for an Anesthesiology Clerkship position, contact: Shannon Tobias at 734.936.4280 or mail a letter to:

Theodore Sanford, M.D.

Department of Anesthesiology

University of Michigan Medical Center

1500 East Medical Center Drive

1H247 University Hospital, Box 0048

Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-0048

Dept. of Anesthesiology, Univ. of Michigan Medical School

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