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A Day in the Life of a Duke Anesthesiology Resident
WELCOME
From Chief Residents, Erin Rose, MD and Tameta Clark, MD
Welcome to the Duke Anesthesiology Resident’s website! Find out more about our world class residency program with a few excerpts from “a day in the life” of our residents. We have candidly described some of the common rotation experiences here at Duke.
We have approximately twelve residents in each class and are increasing to fourteen residents a year in 2008. Eight of our residents will complete their internships here as well. The rest of the class joins up for the first year of clinical anesthesia (CA-1). We have several residents who have completed entire residencies and even fellowships in other specialties before they become a part of our program. It makes for a very diverse and stimulating group! Our residents can opt to take an innovative research/ academic tract or a cutting edge clinical tract to learn (and discover) the very latest concepts in anesthesiology.
If your plans include a fellowship after residency, Duke has top fellowships in Ambulatory/Regional Anesthesia, Cardiothoracic Anesthesia, Obstetric Anesthesia, Pediatric Anesthesia, Pain Management, Hyperbaric Medicine, and Critical Care Medicine. Whatever your future holds, Duke is an exciting place to be!
We feel that our clinical experience is unsurpassed and that the work schedule is very amenable to enjoying life beyond the hospital. The Triangle is a great place to live. It is an affordable lifestyle with lots of opportunity for hiking, biking, kayaking and trips to the many area lakes. The ocean and the mountains are both only a couple hours away and provide great destinations for a weekend trip. You don't have to leave the area to find opportunities for vacation or recreation—local art and cultural events abound, such as the Festival for the Eno, Bull Durham Blues Fest, and the World Beer Festival. The city is also the proud host of the Durham Bulls minor league baseball team and the home of USA Baseball. The Stanley Cup Champion Carolina Hurricanes make their home just a few miles to the east, and the surrounding area is full of championship caliber golf courses. Durham has a wealth of excellent restaurants and great shoping--not to mention the farmer’s market.
You’ll discover more about the Duke experience in the following descriptions of a “day in the life...”
Chief Residents Erin Rose and Tameta Clark
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The Anesthesia Intern Year
The anesthesia intern year, or PGY-1 year, at Duke is built much like a transitional year, with a combination of medicine, surgery, pediatrics, emergency medicine, intensive care, and electives. One of the benefits of choosing the categorical, rather than advanced track, is the opportunity to get to know the Duke system, and work with a wide variety of colleagues in different departments prior to starting your clinical anesthesia years. Some months are certainly more challenging than others, but ultimately you come out feeling well-prepared to begin your CA-1 year. MORE  |
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A day in the life of… Pain
The pain service at Duke is multidisciplinary and includes specialists in anesthesiology, neurology, psychiatry, neurosurgery, psychology and physical therapy and provides care to both inpatients and outpatients. Residents have a month-long rotation with the pain service during residency. They rotate through both outpatient and inpatient pain services. MORE |
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Pediatric Rotation
A typical day on the pediatric anesethesiology rotation begins at 6 am. Strap on your roller-skates as you prepare your room for the day’s cases. At 6:45 or so, you meet your patient and her family in the pre-op holding area. The child chooses her favorite “flavor” of anesthetic - bubblegum, strawberry, vanilla, or whatever lip-smackers chapstick happens to be available that day. Then, off to the OR, where your patient while drifting off to sleep can view her favorite Disney cartoon on one of five plasma screen TVs in our newly renovated OR space. MORE |
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At 6:30 PM, the residents arrive at the “big board” or scheduling board to see what cases are running, which cases need to be started, and gossip about the day’s events. Usually, the famous “waiting room sign” gives a good warning of what’s to come—i.e. as you are walking back to the department of anesthesiology, you pass by the surgical waiting room. If the waiting room is packed, it’s a sure bet that the OR will be busy as well. MORE |
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To many anesthesiology residents, the thought of anesthetizing a 500 gram neonate provokes both fear and insecurity. Yet by the end of the pediatrics rotation as a second year, you will be more than comfortable caring for all types of patients, and will likely enjoy yourself along the way. MORE |
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Our experience at the Durham Veterans Hospital is very rewarding and, at times, extremely challenging. You have the opportunity to take care of vets involved in all areas of combat from WWII to Korea to Vietnam to the more recent middle east adventures. They are some of the most appreciative patients you will ever encounter and have amazing stories and experiences to share. MORE |
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The PGY-1 year of the categorical anesthesiology program at Duke is compromised of a combination of medicine/surgery/peds/electives, similar to a transitional year. Rotations include general medicine, cardiology, pulmonary medicine, general surgery, surgical ICU, emergency medicine, general pediatrics, pediatric ICU, and electives. Nearly everyone chooses to rotate through anesthesiology, hyperbaric medicine, and one other rotation as electives. In addition, some of the rotations are at Durham Regional Hospital, and some at VA, both of which are less than 10 minutes from Duke. MORE |
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When I started evaluating residencies as a medical student, I knew that I was looking for a program that could offer both strong clinical training and opportunities for research. As I went through the interview process and learned more about the top-tier programs, Duke stood out a leading program in both respects. The residents I talked to on interviews had case logs filled with challenging and interesting cases, and the faculty spoke passionately about a variety of research interests. I knew very quickly that Duke was where I wanted to train. MORE |
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My shift on OB starts as I walk into the Duty Room to find the resident who was working overnight, in this case, Dr. Josh Dooley. The attendings are there handing over their call pagers and giving report on the patients who currently have epidurals running, but no Josh. They inform me that he is in the OR finishing up a C-section. MORE |
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Chief Resident, Erin Rose, MD
Chief Resident, Tameta Clark, MD
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