The following are monthly updates from the UAB Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine Education Division. 

National Presentations

Our residents, fellows, and their faculty mentors have had an amazing spring with a total of 18 residents and fellows presenting at national subspecialty meetings, including:

• ASRA (residents: Drs. Jamal Egbaria, Casey Johnson, Chelsea McKenzie, Kevin O’Keefe, and Charlotte Streetzel)
• SCA (fellows: Drs. Clayton Wood Armstrong, Jared Evan Bobulski, Elizabeth Ann Mulhern, Daniel Joseph Ridley, and Garrett James Sutton)
• SOAP (residents: Drs. Reagan Hattaway, Zasmine Hymes-Green, Oliva Lucas, Zach Wright, and Linda Zhang, and fellow Dr. Annalese Nueunschwander)
• SOCCA (Drs. Peter Bamikole, Matthew Sorensen, and Bibek Devkota – in collaboration with Dr. Matt Hull)

Research Day 2024

Preparations are underway for the departmental Research Day 2024 on June 3, led by Drs. Stacy Wade and Jennifer DeBerry. Thanks to the faculty who have agreed to serve as judges. To date, our judges include Drs. Carrie Atcheson, Pankaj Desai, Michael Froelich, Andre Gosling, Hanna Hussey, Patrick Hussey, Riaz Karukappadath, Teshi Kaushik, Nishank Nooli, Tim Ness, and Nicole Schreiner.

Exams

A few of our 2023 graduates have taken their ABA APPLIED Exam, and all passed! This includes several of our current fellows and faculty, Drs. Bobulski, Neuenschwander, Wyndham Bonnett, Andrew Hackney, and Paige Schroder. Most of our 2023 graduates will be taking the exam later this year. Congratulations to all!

The final Monday afternoon mock oral sessions for the academic year were hosted by Margaret Hayes and Celia Keenan on April 1 and May 6. These mock oral exams administered by anesthesiology faculty members are designed to prepare residents for one portion of the ABA APPLIED Exam, the Standard Oral Exam. The exam is generally provided by two faculty members and structured to simulate an actual ABA exam. Thank you to all faculty who volunteered to help with this activity. It is very valuable to our residents.

Resident Graduation

Graduation will be held at The Club to honor our 21 physicians completing their four years of anesthesiology residency. We honor their outstanding commitment to the profession and wish them well as they pursue additional subspecialty training, join private practice groups, and transition into service as academic faculty members. Nine of our 21 graduates will complete additional subspecialty fellowships (four at UAB and five elsewhere). Eight will join private practice groups. Four accepted academic positions (three in Birmingham and one in Atlanta). Their accomplishments are numerous, and their hard work and dedication to excellence will be celebrated.

Additionally, in preparation for graduation, two photo sessions were held to provide graduates with a professional photograph upon graduation. Each resident will receive their individual photo, plus a class photo composite.

CA1 Bootcamp

Preparation is nearing completion for the CA1 Bootcamp, marking the transition for our interns into their clinical anesthesiology training. Thanks to Drs. Stacy Wade, Paul Piennette, and Diane Vakakes (for organizing their didactics training) and Dr. Jim Hunter and Andrea Hammett for organizing the simulation sessions. Special thanks to Celia Keenan and her team for managing the multiple training sessions during that first month which include not only our didactics and simulation sessions, but also ATLS, Children’s Hospital EMR training, pharmacy training, Impact for Anesthesiology training, and MRI safety training.

New Interns

We will be welcoming 21 new interns in June. Thanks to the team—led by Celia Keenan and Drs. Paul Piennette and Tekuila Carter—that is preparing for their orientation and welcome to UAB. Orientation activities are coordinated to include onboarding personnel at UAB Hospital and Birmingham VA Medical Center, plus meetings with chief residents from anesthesiology and internal medicine and support staff. Central line training is provided online and in-person by members of our departmental simulation team (led by Simulation Director Dr. Hunter and Associate Director Andrea Hammett). Orientation to Dashboard, IT security, and setting up their iPads with anesthesiology resources is coordinated and provided by our IT team and Dr. Harold Goss.

Recruitment

Even as we prepare to welcome our incoming interns, we are beginning preparation for the next recruitment season. Celia Keenan and Amber Blount are participating in various live group training sessions and viewing pre-recorded education sessions to learn how to manage new technologies rolled out this season through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS). A new software tool called Thalamus has been adopted by ERAS to manage candidate self-scheduling calendars for interviews and second look visits.

Susan Black Lectureship

The department recently hosted Dr. Jed Wolpaw for the Susan Black Endowed Lectureship. He presented an outstanding grand rounds lecture and faculty workshop on education focusing on effective feedback. We plan to implement some of his ideas in the near future.

ITE Completion

Critical Care Medicine completed administration of their annual ITE. Thanks to the administrative team of Ashley Garrett and Amber Myers.