University of California San Diego Regional Anesthesia Fellowship Program

•  Edward R. Mariano, MD (Fellowship Director)
•  Brian M. Ilfeld, MD, MS (Fellowship co-Director, Clinical Research)
•  Tony L. Yaksh, PhD (Fellowship co-Director, Laboratory Research)

Additional Key Faculty: NavParkash Sandhu, MD; Benjamin Atwater, MD; Rick Bellars, MD; Vanessa Loland, MD; Michael Bishop, MD; and Mark Wallace, MD

Positions: 2 annually

One-Year Fellowship: Clinical and didactic training in regional anesthesia and analgesia.

Two-Year Fellowship: In addition to clinical and didactic training in regional anesthesia, fellows will participate in the NIH-sponsored K30 program and graduate with a Masters of Advanced Studies degree in Clinical Research. Fellows will also have an opportunity to perform clinical and laboratory research under the mentorship of Brian Ilfeld, MD, MS, and Tony Yaksh, PhD, as well as initiate pilot studies for an NIH grant via the K08 or K23 Career Development Award mechanism. The two-year fellowship will prepare graduates for an academic career practicing/teaching regional anesthesia as well as designing and implementing extramurally-funded, high-quality clinical and/or laboratory research related to regional anesthesia.

Fellowship Structure: Regional Anesthesia Fellows at UCSD evaluate patients, perform regional anesthesia procedures in a regional anesthesia induction area (aka “block room”) and follow patients postoperatively. Fellows spend one day per week in the OR either supervising residents or providing direct patient care as staff anesthesiologists (all involving regional techniques). All other clinical time is spent directly administering or supervising residents performing regional blocks or caring for patients as part of the Acute Pain Service. Nonclinical time depends on the level of research commitment and ranges from 1 to 3 days/week (>1 nonclinical day reserved for fellows with established research projects as the primary investigator and subject to approval by the fellowship director).

Clinical Experience:  Fellows should expect to master basic single-injection and continuous peripheral nerve block techniques employing ultrasound-guidance and electrical stimulation as well as advanced ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia procedures and paravertebral blocks. In addition, fellows will gain experience managing continuous perineural infusions for inpatients and outpatients as well adjunct analgesic medications. Fellows will learn to apply regional anesthesia techniques in a variety of surgical settings including trauma, elective outpatient and more invasive orthopedics, vascular surgery, abdominal and pelvic procedures, head and neck surgery, and plastic/reconstructive surgery.

The fellowship structure is very flexible, with time allocated to the inpatient and ambulatory center block rooms, Acute Pain Service, OR, and nonclinical pursuits, depending upon the level of interest in each area. Up to one week is spent in the anatomy lab early in the fellowship year to gain a strong anatomical basis for regional anesthesia procedures. Fellows will also have the opportunity to participate on pediatric international medical missions to learn practical applications of regional anesthesia procedures for children under the direction of Dr. Mariano. Fellows also have the option of pursue training in related chronic pain diagnosis and treatment/procedures (e.g. fluoroscopic guidance techniques) from Dr. Mark Wallace, Director of the UCSD Pain Fellowship.

Salary, Year 1: approximately $ 50,000
Salary, Year 2: approximately $ 151,000 plus call and clinical incentives (~$40,000)

Application Materials: Please submit an updated CV, 2 letters of recommendation (program director and preferably mentor), a recent picture, and a brief personal statement outlining interest in fellowship and the specialty of regional anesthesia (600-word maximum).

Application deadline: We will begin accepting applications April 1st of the year preceding scheduled enrollment (e.g. April 1, 2008, for the 2009-10 academic year).  We review completed applications and offer interviews on an ongoing basis until September 1st of the year preceding enrollment.

Contact person:
Edward R. Mariano, MD
Director, UCSD Regional Anesthesia Fellowship Program
200 West Arbor Drive
San Diego, CA  92103-8770
email: ermariano@ucsd.edu

This fellowship is supported, in part, by NIH grant 5T32NS007407-09 (P.I.: Tony Yaksh, PhD)