We are inviting applications for comprehensive visiting fellowship positions in Obstetric Anesthesiology. The fellow will be affiliated with the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Management at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, rotating at Parkland Health and Hospital System (Parkland). Parkland is a world-renowned tertiary care facility that proudly boasts to over 16,000 deliveries each year. Of these, 45% constitute a high-risk population with a variety of co-existing disorders.
Fellows participate in several areas of activity within Obstetric Anesthesiology, including clinical work, teaching, research, and administrative work. This fellowship position is for the duration of 12 months and provides experience in clinical anesthetic management of high risk obstetric patients, extensive involvement in clinical research, and participation in a structured residency training program where fellows are involved with day-to-day resident teaching and organization of Obstetric Anesthesiology conferences. Sufficient time is provided so as to perform these academic duties.
CLINICAL DUTIES: Fellows are involved in providing analgesia and anesthesia to parturients during labor, assisted vaginal deliveries, cesarean deliveries, and other obstetric procedures. Fellows are given vast opportunities to master several clinical techniques unique to the practice of Obstetric Anesthesiology. Our obstetric unit comprises a significant high-risk population of parturients with obstetric disorders as well as cardiovascular, pulmonary, neurological, and endocrine disorders. Fellows are responsible for the assessment and management of such patients, which includes weekly multidisciplinary high-risk rounds involving obstetricians, neonatologists, and anesthesiologists. All clinical work is done under the close supervision of anesthesiologists who are faculty devoted solely to the practice of Obstetric Anesthesiology within the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Management.
TEACHING: Lectures are conducted each weekday except Wednesday. These lectures provide residents and medical students with a strong foundation in the basics of Obstetric Anesthesiology. Fellows participate in the administration of these lectures under close interaction with faculty. In collaboration with the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, joint morbidity and mortality conferences are held twice a month for Anesthesiology and Obstetric faculty, residents and medical students. Fellows are involved in the organization and presentation of these conferences. A monthly journal club convenes, during which time recent literature pertaining to Obstetric Anesthesiology from leading peer-reviewed journals are presented and discussed, and fellows are actively involved in these proceedings. Fellows are also encouraged to teach and supervise residents and medical students within the clinical realm of practice.
RESEARCH: Our division is extensively involved in clinical research in close association with the Obstetric Division. A research committee comprising anesthesiologists, obstetricians, statisticians, and research nurses convene monthly to present and discuss future projects, construct ongoing protocols, and implement investigative trials. Many opportunities are available for fellows to be involved in these projects. Fellows are also encouraged to pilot their own projects. In-depth guidance and counseling are provided by faculty well versed in the area of research. Duties span the spectrum from constructing study protocols to enrolling patients to gathering and analyzing data to writing abstracts and manuscripts. Our division is consistently involved with presentations at several annual scientific meetings to include that of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology, and the International Anesthesia Research Society.
Dr. Shiv K. Sharma, Director of Research and Fellowship Training, oversees the Obstetric Anesthesiology Fellowship Program.
