Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine Residency/ Fellowship Training

Resident Training

Residents rotate at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in the Anesthesiology, Thoracic and Neuroanesthesia departments for one month as CA-III after completing three years of residency.

The residency programs affiliated with M. D. Anderson are The University of Texas Health Science Center, University of Texas Medical Branch, Baylor College of Medicine, Tulane University and Wilford Hall Medical Center.

The goals and objectives for M. D. Anderson Cancer Center residents are as follows:

Anesthesiology

• To teach functional anatomy and physiology of the human airway
• Recognition and classification of the difficulty
• Analysis, explanation, and application of the American Society of
• Anesthesiologists Difficult Airway Algorithm,
• Different airway techniques
• Difficult airway situations, case examples and analysis

Thoracic Surgery

• Preoperative evaluation
• Pulmonary function testing
• Intraoperative monitoring
• Physiology of one-lung ventilation and lateral decubitus position
• Methods of lung separation
• Management of one-lung ventilation
• Choice of anesthesia
• Anesthesia for diagnostic procedures
  • bronchoscopy (FOB/rigid)
  • mediastinoscopy
• Anesthesia for special situations
  • high-frequency ventilation
  • bronchopleural fistula
  • tracheal resection
  • bronchopulmonary lavage
  • Myasthenia gravis
• Thoracic epidural technique
• TEE (basic intermediate and advance level)
• Postoperative management and complications
• Placement of arterial line, central venous access and pulmonary artery catheter.

Anesthesia for Neurosurgery

• Anatomy, physiology and pharmacology
• Special positioning
• Special monitoring (SSEP, EMG, EEG and Doppler)
• Intracranial and extracranial procedures that include:
  • awake craniotomy
  • brain stem procedure
  • spine instrumentation
• Interpretation of
  • MRI
  • CT scan
  • Angiogram

Contact Information

Dilip Thakar, M.D.
Professor of Anesthesiology and Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery
Residency Coordinator
Phone: 713-745-1191
Fax: 713-794-4590
E-mail: dthakar@mdanderson.org

Fellowship Training

Fellowship Education in Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine

Our department provides fellowship education in both cancer anesthesia and pain medicine that will allow firm establishment of an academic career in either of these rewarding subspecialties. Currently, we offer both fellowships in a clinical model. For selected competitive fellowship candidates, an additional year of research will be funded by our department to allow a truly sound foundation for an academic career.

Anesthesiology

Cancer Anesthesia Fellowship

This fellowship is meant for outstanding anesthesiologists who desire to deepen their experience in provision of anesthetic care for a wide variety of oncology patients. This fellowship will be tailored to individual desires and goals; though will have available focused experience in cancer anesthesia for malignancies related to:

• Pulmonary
• Urologic
• Brain
• Sarcoma
• Liver
• Spine
• Breast
• Bone
• Skin and soft tissue
• Head and Neck
• Gynecologic
• Gastrointestinal
• Metastatic disease
• Postoperative pain needs

A formal curriculum and reading list will be provided on acceptance into program. 

Fellowship Curriculum

Clinical

• Thoracic anesthesia: One to two months
• Gastrointestinal*: One to two months
• Neurologic: One to two
• Orthopedic: One month
• Postoperative pain: One month
• Preoperative evaluation: Two weeks
• Head and Neck: One month
• Gynecologic: One month
• Urology: One month
• Research: One to three months

*Includes liver resections

Contact Information

Vijaya Gottumukkala, M.D.
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology
The University of Texas
M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine
1515 Holcombe Blvd. - Unit 42
Houston, Texas 77030

Pain Management Fellowship

Our program goals and objectives are designed to provide advanced training in the assessment and management of pain. Training experiences are based on direct involvement in patient care under the direct faculty supervision and instruction. Our fellows benefit from active interaction with all medical disciplines involved in the care and treatment of pain patients.

The primary objective or outcome of the fellowship program is that the fellow should be competent to serve as a consultant for problems related to pain management. This includes the management of straightforward and complex pain syndromes in ambulatory and hospitalized patients. Fellows should be able to manage such problems, even when complicated by the presence of other symptoms, complex medical illness and psychological distress. For more detailed fellowship information click here.

Contact Information

Basem Hamid, M.D.
Assistant Professor
Pain Fellowship Program Director
Phone: 713-745-7246
Fax: 713-745-0177
E-mail: bhamid@mdanderson.org