Adult Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology Fellowship Program

Program Director: Meha Bhargava, MD
Accreditation: ACGME
Program Length: 1 year
Fellows per year: 2

Quick guide

Curriculum
Leadership and Faculty
Fellows

About the program

The Allegheny Health Network Medical Education Consortium Adult Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology Fellowship is a one-year clinical training program designed to prepare graduates for leadership positions in the subspecialty practice of cardiothoracic anesthesiology. The program is dedicated to providing training and experience in a multidisciplinary academic environment to achieve competence in patient care, medical knowledge, practice-based learning and improvement, interpersonal and communication skills, professionalism, and systems-based practice in the field of cardiothoracic anesthesiology.

The curriculum is structured to provide fellows with the opportunity to develop skills in clinical care, judgment, teaching, and research. At the conclusion of the fellowship, the fellow functions as an independent consultant in the anesthesia care of cardiothoracic patients, including the certification in perioperative TEE. Additionally, it is our practice to assign the fellows to the more complex, challenging teaching cases, including ventricular assist device insertion, transplantation, or thoracoabdominal aneurysm repair. This maximizes the fellows’ learning experience in clinical care and judgment.

Completion of the fellowship program curriculum fulfills the minimum program requirements specified by the ACGME and the eligibility requirements for achieving certification in Advanced Perioperative Transesophageal Echocardiography from the National Board of Echocardiography.

The fellowship education in adult cardiothoracic anesthesiology training includes:

• A minimum of 12 months duration, beginning after satisfactory completion of a residency program in anesthesiology as required for entry into the examination system of the American Board of Anesthesiology.
• Experience in providing anesthesia for cardiac, non-cardiac thoracic, and intrathoracic vascular surgical procedures, in addition to anesthesia for non-operative diagnostic and interventional cardiac and thoracic procedures outside of the operating room.
• Practice in pre-anesthesia preparation and post-anesthesia care, pain management, and advanced cardiac life support.
• Familiarity with the conduct of preoperative patient evaluation and interpretation of cardiovascular and pulmonary diagnostic test data, hemodynamic and respiratory monitoring, advanced-level perioperative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE), management of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), pharmacological and mechanical hemodynamic support, perioperative critical care, including ventilator support, and perioperative main management.
  

In addition to the requirements listed above, all fellows must be educated in advanced cardiac life support and be ACLS providers.

In conjunction with a faculty supervisor, all fellows must complete a minimum of one academic assignment related to cardiothoracic anesthesiology. Academic projects may include:

• Grand Rounds presentation.
• Preparation and publication of review articles, book chapters, and manuals for teaching or clinical practice.
• Clinical, translational, or basic research investigation or similar scholarly activities.

Application information

All applications are accepted through the SF Match. This program does not participate in ERAS or the NRMP.

Benefits and Stipends

Benefits and stipends will commensurate with the level of training. Visit our Benefits - Consortium page to learn more about the benefits and salaries for residencies and fellowships.

In addition to the benefits offered by the Consortium, the program provides the following:

• Laptops and Vocera for use during fellowship
• Private desk space and locker
• TEE/Cardiac Anesthesia textbooks and PTE Masters
• 5 non-clinical days - can be used for exams, SCA conference, and interviews
• Electronic, web-based evaluation system, New Innovations
• Electronic SharePoint intranet site for department schedules, resources, etc. 

About Graduate Medical Education

The Adult Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology Fellowship program is part of the Graduate Medical Education (GME) opportunities offered by the AHN Medical Education Consortium. Learn more about Graduate Medical Education.

Contact us

Jessica Gold-Leo
Program Coordinator
(412) 359-5707
Fax: (412) 359-8897
jessica.gold-leo@ahn.org

Anna Ferguson
Program Coordinator
(412) 359-8191
Fax: (412) 359-8897
anna.ferguson@ahn.org

Allegheny General Hospital
Department of Anesthesiology
320 E North Avenue
4^th Floor, South Tower
Pittsburgh, PA 15212