Maine Medical Center
a group of residents rafting on a river

Curriculum

Clinical Base Year (Internship)

All our residency positions are categorical and include the clinical base year/internship. We believe that a strong foundation in anesthesiology starts with a broad experience in medicine, but also includes other important components like a dedicated experience in patient safety and quality improvement, point-of-care ultrasound and pain management.

Transition to clinical anesthesia occurs at the end of the clinical base year and includes a 1-week dedicated simulation-based boot camp and then four weeks of one-on-one, mentored training with progressive autonomy. CA1 residents spend the first half of the year focusing on general OR cases and then advance to sub-specialty rotations for the latter half.

PGY 1 Year

  • Rotations include
    • Medical ICU
    • Emergency Medicine
    • Palliative Care
    • Inpatient Medicine – General Medicine, Cardiology, Transplant, Oncology
    • Cardiology Consult
    • Pulmonology Consult
    • Point of Care Ultrasound
    • Acute Pain Management Service (APMS)
    • Anesthesia Bootcamp & Intro to Clinical Anesthesia
    • Clinical Information Systems/Patient Safety

Clinical Anesthesia YEAR 1 (CA1)

  • Rotations for CA1 year include:
    • General OR
    • Ambulatory Anesthesia
    • Pre-Admission Evaluation Clinic (PREP)
    • Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU)
    • Acute Pain Management Service (APMS)
    • Pediatric Anesthesia
    • Vascular/ Thoracic Anesthesia
    • Neuroanesthesia
    • Obstetrical Anesthesia
    • Surgical Critical Care

Clinical Anesthesia YEAR 2 (CA2)

The CA2 year consists primarily of sub-specialty rotations, including exposure to what would often be considered fellowship-level cases at other institutions.

  • Cardiac Anesthesia (2-months)
  • Pediatric Anesthesia
  • Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit (CTICU)
  • Regional Anesthesia
  • Pain Medicine
  • Ambulatory Anesthesia
  • Vascular Thoracic Anesthesia
  • Orthopedic Anesthesia
  • Non-OR Anesthesia (NORA)
  • Neuroanesthesia
  • Advanced Clinical Track (ACT)

Clinical Anesthesia YEAR 3 (CA3)

More flexibility in training, offering 4 elective blocks.

Elective CA3 rotations include, but are not limited to:

  • NORA
  • ACT
  • Orthopedic Anesthesia
  • Pediatric Anesthesia
  • Research
  • Blood Bank
  • Simulation
  • Community Hospital Anesthesia – MaineHealth Maine Medical Center, Biddeford, ME
  • Rural Anesthesia – MaineHealth Franklin Hospital, Farmington, ME
  • Pain
  • Regional Anestheisa
  • APMS
  • In-house elective (Neuro ICU, Pediatric ICU, Addiction Medicine, etc)
  • Away elective (requires approval)

Required CA3 rotations:

  • PREP
  • PACU
  • Vascular/Thoracic Anesthesia
  • Obstetrical Anesthesia
  • Surgical Critical Care
  • OR Management and Medical Direction
  • Ambulatory Anesthesia
  • Cardiac Anesthesia/TEE
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A group of residents sitting around a conference table watching a presentation
A group of residents wearing scrubs and sitting together
A group of adults in formal clothes standing together in a large staircase

Additional Curriculum Information

MaineHealth Maine Medical Center (MHMMC) offers a unique didactic approach where all residents have one full academic day per week consisting of Grand Rounds, lectures, simulation, and dedicated time for scholarly activity. This is protected non-clinical time and allows all residents to come together as a group to learn and engage in research, QI projects, innovation, or other scholarly work. 

Didactic Schedule

Wednesday Schedule:
6:15 AM - 7:00 AM  Cardiac Conference for residents on Cardiac Rotation

Thursday Schedule:
7:00 AM - 8:00 AM   Grand Rounds, Dana Auditorium

Presentations include:

  • Staff lectures
  • Visiting lectures
  • Interactive case conferences
  • Senior resident lectures

8:00 AM – 11:30 AM  Didactic Lecture Series, Board Review, Workshops
1:00 PM - 4:30 PM  Simulation / Protected time for scholarly work

Anesthesiology journal club meeting at a pizza place in Portland, Maine
  • Mentored by department faculty
  • Held four times per year
  • Residents instructed on how to interpret data
  • Residents present articles and then lead the discussions

 

 

 

  • Mock oral boards are given three times per year (all classes)
  • Monthly written board preparation with various staff members
  • Several ABA Oral Board Examiners within the department who ensure continuity with the ABA’s procedures
  • ABA Applied Exam Simulation for CA3 residents including full Oral Board and OSCE events
  • Monthly oral board preparation with ABA Board Examiner
  • Board preparation materials and resources provided by department, including online question banks, hardcopy text-books, and electronic resources.
  • Required books are purchased for all residents by the department