The clinical base year in anesthesia at the University of Iowa is structured to prepare you for the clinical training in Anesthesiology and Peri-operative medicine. The goal is not only to give you a wide exposure to clinical specialties that will help you in taking care of your patients in the operating room but also to help you learn the system at the University of Iowa. In addition, you will be working closely with teams that you will later interact with, as an anesthesia resident on a regular basis. This we feel is very important as you develop collegial relationships with those specialty attending and house staff members very early in your career.

During this year you rotate through two months of Surgical Intensive Care Unit (under the medical direction of our department), one month each of ER, Trauma Surgery, Pediatric Surgery, Neurology, and Radiology. You will also have three months of Internal Medicine (Renal consults, Cardiology and General Medicine floors), one month in Preoperative Anesthesia Clinic and a month of Anesthesia. All our interns do this month of anesthesia in June of the calendar year so that your transition in to the residency is easier. You will have all your orientation to the department, workroom and basic anesthesia lectures during the month of June. This will prepare you the best for your first month as an anesthesia resident.

During this year we have a reading program directed by Dr. Deb Szeluga that is mandatory for all our interns. You will have two weekly assignments and a quiz to follow on chapters from Anesthesia and Co-existing Disease by Stoelting. You will be given this book and Clinical Anesthesiology by Morgan and Mikhail as complimentary copies by the department. All our CA1’s in addition, also get the double volume text Anesthesia by Miller from the department.

In tabular form, the PGY-1 year's rotations consist of the following:

2 mos. Surgical Intensive Care Unit	1 mo. Pediatric Surgery
1 mo. Trauma Surgery	1 mo. Cardiology
1 mo. Renal Consult	1 mo. Neurology
1 mo. ER	1 mo. Radiology
1 mo. Anesthesiology	1 mo. General Medicine
1 mo. EKG/Pre-Op

PGY-2 & 3 (CA-1 & 2) years

Visit the SICU web site

The Surgical Intensive Care Unit is medically directed and staffed by faculty members of the Department of Anesthesia and Surgery who are skilled in the care of acutely ill surgical patients and have extensive experience in managing complex emergencies. These faculty members, having completed Fellowship training in Critical Care Medicine, are responsible for the administrative and medical supervision of the SICU, which serves 2,000 patients annually. The SICU is a 26-bed unit which affords firsthand experience for residents and fellows in the care of patients suffering from respiratory failure, sepsis, multi-system trauma, peri-operative complications, acute neurological injuries, and post-organ transplantation care. The SICU emphasizes a team approach to teaching and clinical service which affects close professional relationships between specialties and optimal patient care.

The Surgical Intensive Care Unit is the major academic referral center for support of critically ill patients in Iowa. In turn, the SICU’s development has been well supported by UIHC through the work of Nursing, Respiratory Care, Hospital Pharmacy, Rehabilitation Therapies, Radiology and Pathology. The SICU is in close proximity to the Operating Rooms and the Critical Care Laboratory, enhancing operational efficiencies.

The Department of Anesthesia is committed to the development of anesthesiologists skilled in the practice of critical care. Nationally, there is increased demand for intensivists—a function of studies showing enhancement of outcomes in ICU’s directed by critical care trained physicians. To accomplish this goal, the Department of Anesthesia has developed and continuously fine-tunes the training program to provide residents, fellows, and medical students a broad exposure to critical care. Multi-disciplinary rounds are standard among physicians, pharmacists, respiratory care practitioners, critical care nurses, and ICU dieticians, effectively contributing to the overall training experience. Regular didactics, which include lectures, mechanical ventilation laboratories, and journal clubs, emphasize evidence-based practice. There are ample experiences in critical care procedures, including emergency airway management, mechanical ventilation, fiberoptic bronchoscopy, echocardiography, and broad aspects of hemodynamic monitoring. Physiciansin- training have ample opportunity to closely interact with the broad based critical care faculty of the SICU who have training in Anesthesia, Surgery, Hyperbaric Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Medicine, Trauma, Pharmacology, Cardiovascular Physiology, Nutrition, and Critical Care Medicine. Surgical Intensive Care The Department of Anesthesia has provided the medical direction for the Surgical Intensive Care Unit for over 20 years, affecting superior critical care training for over 200 anesthesiology residents. During the SICU training rotation, residents and fellows benefit from exposure to life threatening illnesses with supervised training. With graded levels of responsibility during the training process, physiciansin- training develop the expertise and confidence to provide acute critical care.