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Residency Program in Anesthesiology

The University of Arizona Residency Program in Anesthesiology offers an outstanding combination of clinical training, didactic teaching and subspecialty experience in a friendly collegial atmosphere. The Department has a well-established reputation for teaching and research; with 39 residents we are at an optimal size for providing individualized training for each resident.

The success of our graduates in both academics and private practice demonstrates the quality of the residents we attract as well as the caliber of their training in anesthesiology. The department head, Steven J. Barker, Ph.D., M.D. and the outstanding faculty are committed to resident training as the highest priority in the department.

Our residency program is centered at the Arizona Health Sciences Center (AHSC), which is adjacent to the main campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson. The AHSC comprises all of the facilities of the College of Medicine, including the 350 bed University Medical Center (UMC) hospital, the Arizona Cancer Center, the College of Nursing, the College of Pharmacy, and numerous research facilities. This consolidation of medical and research facilities at one location yields an unusual and successful collaboration between the clinical and basic science departments.

Our department administers over 15,000 anesthetics per year in 17 state-of-the-art operating rooms and 2 obstetrical suites at UMC. We are a tertiary care center, a level I trauma center and the regional transplant center for Southern Arizona. The Department of Anesthesiology directs the operating suite, and co-directs the surgical intensive care unit. The outstanding quality and diversity of the surgical services are one of the important resources of our program. In today's managed care environment many teaching hospitals are experiencing large decreases in surgical case volume, yet UMC has seen a 35% increase in caseload over the past three years! Furthermore, our cases encompass the full spectrum of anesthesia subspecialties so that our residents can easily satisfy the requirements of the American Board of Anesthesiology for case distribution. We are especially active In Cardiovascular and Trauma Surgery, Organ Transplantation (heart, liver, kidney, lung, pancreas), Outpatient Anesthesia.

The Tucson Veterans Administration Medical Center (VAMC), a 240 bed facility, is an important part of our integrated anesthesiology program. The department of anesthesiology administers approximately 3,500 anesthetics annually to an excellent variety of patients, many of whom have co-existing diseases. There is a strong emphasis on vascular, cardiac, neuro, and urological surgeries.