Global Anesthesiology Fellowship

Letter from Global Anesthesiology Fellowship Program Director

Thank you for your interest in the Vanderbilt Department of Anesthesiology’s Global Anesthesiology Fellowship.  Our goal is to recruit and train anesthesiologists committed to transformative clinical, research and teaching impact at sites around the globe to address gaps in worldwide anesthesia care. To accomplish this, we have developed an innovative curriculum that capitalizes on the strengths of our internationally recognized expertise and global partnerships.

This innovative fellowship incorporates clinical service at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and may be customized according to your interests. It may be completed in one or two years, depending on your goals. If a two-year fellowship is chosen, completion of a Master of Public Health degree (MPH) is an option through the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health.

Our instructional program includes didactic, discussion and simulation opportunities to improve skills and knowledge in research, education, ethics, culture, clinical care and other key topics for health systems development in low- and middle-income countries. In addition, we will provide guided mentorship for program development, grant writing and research publication. It is our hope that our fellowship graduates will expand the body of research on international medical service, as well as be a part of the solution in the ongoing global burden of surgical disease and the global anesthesia crisis. After completion of the program, we expect our fellows to become future leaders, educators and innovators in global health.

I am personally honored to follow Kelly McQueen, MD, MPH in the role as Program Director and plan to continue the work she has done to create a unique and valuable experience for our fellows.

We welcome your application and look forward to hearing from you soon.

Kynes Signature

J. Matthew Kynes, MD

Program Director

kynes

  • Unlike many fellowship opportunities in anesthesiology, which build upon rotations experienced in residency and on didactic material thoroughly covered over three years, a Global Anesthesiology Fellowship offers exposure to an area of medicine and public health which is rarely experienced, if at all, during residency. The skills and knowledge needed by an anesthesiologist in low-income settings are not intuitive, and therefore a specific set of learning modules and clinical experiences are needed to allow the clinician to grow in these areas. Furthermore, researching topics of meaning in these settings often provides a set of unanticipated challenges when an individual is accustomed to a resource-rich training environment.

    GOALS

    • To develop an understanding of the role of anesthesia and surgery in global public health.
    • To appreciate the burden of surgical disease in low- and middle-income countries including the absence of essential infrastructure for the provision of safe anesthesia.
    • To refine the clinical skills required for providing anesthesia in austere and remote settings where technology and other resources are limited.
    • To provide patient care that is compassionate, ethical, appropriate, and effective for low- and middle-income countries.
    • To contribute to the international literature through a mentored research project pertaining to the global burden of surgical disease and/or the global anesthesia crisis.
    • To expand knowledge of established and evolving biomedical, clinical, epidemiological and social-behavioral sciences, as well as the application of this knowledge to the safe practice of anesthesia in austere and remote settings.

    SYLLABUS
    Click here to download

  • QUALIFICATIONS

    • Applicants must have completed an approved internship and Anesthesiology residency at an ACGME-accredited program prior to starting the fellowship.
    • Applicants must express a desire to learn about and experience global anesthesia, and contribute an effort to expanding the research in the global burden of surgical disease and/or the global anesthesia crisis.
    • Applicants must be board-eligible or board-certified.

    CLINICAL ROTATIONS

    • Vanderbilt Main ORs (4 months)
    • Research (1 months)
    • Simulation (2 weeks)
    • Regional anesthesia in austere environments (2 weeks)
    • Overseas clinical rotation: Service and supervision of residents (6 months)
    • Optional: MPH degree program (12 months)

    RESPONSIBILITIES

    • Clinical duties consistent with the rotation.
    • Call – Fellowship rotations
      • Call will be minimal, but will be assigned in accordance with departmental needs and will not exceed more than one call a week.
    • Global anesthesia societies and organizations
      • The fellow will actively participate in local, state, and national organizations involving the advancement of responsible and transparent global anesthesia, including the Alliance for Surgery and Anesthesia Presence, www.asaptoday.org.
    • Simulation training for residents planning an overseas rotation
      • The fellow will assist with teaching within the simulation program.

    RESEARCH

    • Fellows will participate in research with a global focus and be given appropriate nonclinical time to fulfill these goals. There will be opportunities for the fellow to become involved in research already in progress or to develop an original project. In either case, an appropriate attending anesthesiologist will mentor and assist the fellow in achieving these goals.
    • Activities that would qualify as academic projects include a collection of complications and outcomes overseas, or an interesting case study submitted to a peer-review journal; a clinical chart review or a review article submitted to, and accepted by a peer-reviewed journal; or a book chapter approved by the program director.

    FACILITIES AND RESOURCES

    • Equipment – A precordial stethoscope and Lifebox pulse oximeter will be provided to the fellow.
    • Office – The fellow will be provided office space and a computer for their use.
    • Library – The fellow will have access to the department library, the Vanderbilt University Eskind Biomedical Library, and the electronic Eskind Digital Library.
    • Support Services – The fellow will have support from administrative, clinical, and technical personnel within the Department of Anesthesiology.
    • CME – The fellow will be supplied a CME fund per the department policy for a period of twelve months to be used toward educational materials or conferences.
    • All vaccinations/prophylaxis needed for travel are provided.

    EVALUATION

    • The attending faculty will be evaluated by the fellow twice annually.
    • Written evaluations of the fellow by all faculty with whom they have worked shall occur quarterly. The evaluation results will be recorded and reviewed with the fellow by the program director no less often than every six months.
    • The fellow will submit a procedure log quarterly to the program director to ensure adequate procedure exposure.

  • COMPENSATION

    • The fellow will receive a salary equivalent to the Clinical Instructor rank, distributed over a 12 month period.

    BENEFITS

    • HR benefits
    • Relocation allowance: $2,000 for single person/$3,000 per family
    • Vacation: 4 weeks
    • CME days: 1 week
    • CME account
    • iPad provided at fellowship start

    FUNDING

    • The fellowship is supported financially by the Department of Anesthesiology and by research funding.

     

    ADDITIONAL OFFICE OF GRADUATE MEDICAL EDUCATION (GME) INFORMATION

    For additional information regarding needed permissions for an overseas learning experience visit the GME website: /gme

  • The Global Fellowship is firmly rooted in public health concepts, and we strive to produce research and overseas experiences that support the vision of the host country and are sustainable. If a fellow is interested in Global Health, within the Vanderbilt Masters of Public Health (MPH) program, we offer a two year combined MPH and Global Fellowship. More details can be found below:

    Vanderbilt Master of Public Health Program Global Health Track

    The Global Health track of the Vanderbilt MPH Program is designed to educate innovative and effective public health professionals in the development and management of effective global health initiatives, to contribute to sound public health policies and practices, and to engage in meaningful partnerships with communities.

    In addition to the core public health coursework (Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Public Health Practice, ), courses include Foundations of Global Health, Essential Skills in Global Health, Leadership, Policy and Management in Global Health, and Global Health Ethics. Additional information about course requirements, as well as a typical course of study, can be found here.

     

    Students in the Global Health track complete a practicum in an international low-resource setting. Vanderbilt Global Health Anesthesiology Fellows will have the opportunity to work with partners at Kijabe Hospital in rural Kenya as well as at sites in Ethiopia, Guyana, and Mozambique. For the thesis, students complete a substantive piece of translational research that results in a manuscript suitable for submission to the refereed biomedical literature. Examples of previous students thesis topics can be found here.

    Applying to the Vanderbilt MPH Program

    All students begin MPH coursework in the fall. Vanderbilt Global Health Anesthesiology Fellows should plan to submit an application to the Vanderbilt MPH Program in December before the fall they plan to matriculate. The application process may take several weeks and its important that applicants submit a completed application at least two weeks before the application deadlines. Interested applicants are encouraged to contact the Vanderbilt MPH Program for guidance on the application process in the fall a year before they plan to matriculate.

    Global Health track application deadlines:

    • DECEMBER 15 Global Health track applications must be submitted with a status of "verified" in SOPHAS by this date to receive priority consideration for scholarships
    • JANUARY 15 All Global Health track applications must be submitted with a status of "verified" in SOPHAS by this date to be considered for admission