Anesthesiology

 An abundance of clinical, academic, and mentoring resources is essential to supporting & enhancing the obstetric anesthesiology fellow's professional development at Vanderbilt. Below are several of those resources:

• Ample Clinical Experience:  The annual delivery rate at VUMC continues to rise, and now approaches 4,800, with a high percentage of anesthesia/analgesia involvement.
• Diversity of Clinical Cases: high-risk tertiary referrals with full spectrum of obstetrical & medical complications; healthy, low-risk care; several perinatal care models (traditional-individual obstetrician, Maternal Fetal Medicine referral, CenteringPregnancy®, midwifery practice).
• Inter-professional Collaborative Care:  The Division of Obstetric Anesthesiology enjoys an excellent collaborative relationship with the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology faculty & residents, Maternal-Fetal Medicine faculty, obstetrics nursing staff, midwifery staff, neonatologists, and a host of consultants.
• Focus on Quality:  The disciplines participating in women’s health are highly oriented to quality care and improvement. Fellows are encouraged to participate in and lead the multi-faceted program which includes: daily collaborative team practice, twice daily inter-professional briefing sessions, monthly Perinatal Quality Improvement Committee meetings, Dept. of Obstetrics & Gynecology MM&I conferences, and the Obstetric Anesthesiology quality improvement program.
• Fetal Surgery:  Vanderbilt was one of 3 trial sites in the original NICHD Management of Myelomeningocele Study (MOMS trial).  Vanderbilt's inter-disciplinary fetal surgery program continues to be very active, with approximately 50 fetal surgery cases performed annually.
• Cultural Diversity:  There are ample opportunities for developing cultural & linguistic competence, owing to Nashville’s large and diverse immigrant population. The increasingly important skills needed to recognize & address unique culture, language, and health literacy of diverse patients and communities are promoted by faculty and interpreter services staff with extensive expertise and interest in this area.
• Education:  The division’s education program is well-developed & comprehensive, including daily morning didactic conference, unique & innovative assessment tools, and a purposeful supervision & feedback structure. Fellows participate actively, including daily teaching, supervision, and assessment of the many learners rotating in the division (anesthesiology residents, student nurse anesthetists, medical students). By year's end, fellows acquire a vast experience and a large repertoire of education/assessment tools, which they may readily apply in their subsequent leadership roles.
• Simulation: The division participates actively in inter-professional team training, crisis management training, and individual & procedural simulated practice (Center for Experiential Learning & Assessment; Noelle®, Laerdal Patient Simulator Mannequins).
• Vanderbilt Center for Women’s Health: Plans are underway to begin active obstetric anesthesiology faculty, fellow, and resident participation in patient education initiatives at the Center for Women’s Health at One Hundred Oaks.
• Procedural Expertise:  The full complement of analgesia & anesthesia procedures are performed: labor analgesia (neuraxial, inhalation nitrous oxide), cesarean anesthesia (neuraxial, general), post-partum anesthesia (e.g., hemorrhage, retained placenta), antenatal anesthesia (e.g., cerclage), ultrasound guided techniques (e.g., neuraxial block, transversus abdominus plane block), etc.
• Research & Scholarly Opportunities are abundant in a variety of areas, including chapters/reviews (all faculty), placental perfusion lab (JD, CB, RP), inhalation nitrous oxide analgesia (SS), fetal surgery (RP), simulation (JB), inter-professional practice & education (MR, JB), qualitative research approaches to parturient perspectives, quality assessment & education (MR), database research (excellent clinical & research informatics resources & support), and numerous collaborations with faculty in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology. The Department of Anesthesiology and Vanderbilt University offer a wide variety of resources that support & promote effective, high quality research & scholarly productivity.
• Professional Societies:  The faculty are active participants & leaders in state, national, & international professional associations (SOAP; ASA; OAA; AMEE, Tennessee Society of Anesthesiologists), and eagerly support fellows’ membership & participation in these organizations, as well as their contributions & attendance to annual meetings.