2W: Basic Clinical Anesthesiology

School of Medicine

Students will become an integral part of an anesthesia care team model (attending anesthesiologist and resident) at VUMC. Working side-by-side with this care team, students will learn and actively participate in the perioperative management of adult patients presenting for surgical procedures and diagnostic or therapeutic interventions requiring anesthetic care and management. Students will participate in preoperative assessment, risk stratification, development and execution of anesthetic plan (including induction of anesthesia, airway management, maintenance of anesthesia, and emergence), and immediate postoperative care of patients. This rotation will provide a hands-on, continually monitored and mentored experience. At the conclusion of this two-week elective rotation, students will be able to take and perform a focused anesthesia history and physical, evaluate airway anatomy for ease or difficulty of airway management, and demonstrate valuable skills of mask/bag ventilation, intubation, and LMA placement. Additionally, through designated lectures, assigned textbook, selected journal readings, and hands-on clinical experiences, students will be acquainted with the pharmacology and physiology of anesthetic induction and maintenance agents, neuromuscular blocking drugs, vasoactive substances, local anesthetics, and opioid and non-opioid analgesics. Students will assess and interpret physiologic data from both non-invasive and invasive monitors and explain implementation of interventions to correct physiologic and hemodynamic perturbations.