Cancer Anesthesiology Fellowship

This is an advanced fifth-year level program of one-year duration (possible 2 with one year of research). Each year, one to two new fellows are selected to begin training in July. To be considered for the MD Anderson Cancer Anesthesia fellowship, all candidates must have completed an accredited Anesthesiology residency program in either the United States or Canada and be board certified or board eligible. International candidates with equivalent foreign training will be considered if they have full ECFMG certification.

In addition to the application documents for all candidates, international candidates will also need to have the following: An appropriate J-1 visa, which allows for work/training, ECFMG certification (this is also a requirement for the visa), certified translations for all documents that are not in English, a credentials evaluation which states that their foreign medical degree is comparable to ones that are issued by an accredited US medical school, and a Physician-in-Training (PIT) permit of full medical license from the Texas Medical Board.

Successful completion of fellowship training results in an institutional certification by MD Anderson. In order to be qualified for certification, the fellow must complete 12 months of training within the department. Fellows will have to customize clinical rotations in surgical oncology, head and neck oncology, brain tumors, acute and chronic pain, pulmonary lab and research (2 - 3 months). Clinical or laboratory research is encouraged during the fellowship.

Rotating Resident Information

UT Health Science Center Residents in their CA-II and CA-III years may rotate for 1 month with the Thoracic Anesthesia Service at MD Anderson. This provides a unique opportunity to care for cancer patients undergoing a wide variety of Thoracic surgeries. Our faculty also staff Urologic and Gynecologic surgeries. You may be assigned to these cases when deemed educationally appropriate (IVC thrombectomy).

The goals and objectives for rotating residents are as follows:

Airway Management

• 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
• Adaptation of this algorithm to patients requiring one-lung ventilation
• Application of video-laryngoscopy, fiberoptic bronchoscopy and video-DLT
• Case examples and analysis with the opportunity to author posters, abstracts and manuscripts as opportunities occur

Transfusion Medicine

• Preoperative evaluation & intraoperative management
• TEG versus Quantra determination of clotting factors

Anesthesia for Thoracic surgery

• Preoperative evaluation
  • PFT, Lung split function test and CT
• Intraoperative monitoring
• Physiology of one-lung ventilation and lateral decubitus position
• Methods to achieve lung isolation/one-lung ventilation
  • DLTs and bronchial blockers (types and sizing)
  • High frequency jet ventilation
• Management of one-lung ventilation
• Anesthetic considerations for Thoracic surgery
  • Open, thoracoscopic and robotic
  • Wedge resection, lobectomy and pneumonectomy
  • Extra pleural pneumonectomy and pleurectomy
  • Sleeve and tracheal resection & reconstruction
  • Sarcoma resection and vascular reconstruction
  • Chest-wall resection & reconstruction
  • Intra-thoracic fistula repair
  • Cardiac tumors

Anesthesia for diagnostic procedures

• Fiberoptic and rigid bronchoscopy
• Mediastinoscopy

Additional Techniques

• Thoracic epidural
• ERAS for Thoracic surgery
• TEE (basic intermediate and advance level)
• Postoperative management and complications
• Placement of arterial line, central venous access and pulmonary artery catheter
  
  

Contact Information

Ifeyinwa Ifeanyi, M.D. 
Associate Professor and OR/THOR Residency Program Director
Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine
ICIfeanyi@MDAnderson.org