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Pediatric Cardiac Anesthesiology Fellowship

The mission of Lurie Children’s Pediatric Cardiac Anesthesiology Program is to train the future leaders of cardiac anesthesiology. At Lurie Children’s, we believe that children with heart disease need anesthetic care that protects their full developmental potential from the threats of critical illness and cardiac surgery. The best care for children with critical heart disease occurs when they are surrounded by the greatest possible expertise, which we help foster in our Pediatric Cardiac Anesthesiology Program.

Our Pediatric Cardiac Anesthesiology Program educates fellows in safe, conscientious, and up-to-date practices in anesthetic management and perioperative care in neonates to adults with congenital heart disease. We provide well-rounded instruction supported by robust clinical exposure, educational programs, and research opportunities in congenital heart disease at the Heart Center at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. The Pediatric Cardiac Anesthesiology Fellowship program accepts 5 to 10 fellows each year and participates in the NRMP Pediatric Anesthesiology Match process.

About Lurie Children's

Lurie Children's is a 360-bed, state-of-the-art facility situated next door to Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. We are in the heart of downtown Chicago, adjacent to Lake Michigan and Water Tower Place. Over 400 cardiac surgeries and 1,000 cardiac catheterizations are performed each year with one of the best national survival rates.

 

Program Director

Ravi Shah

Ravi Shah, MD
Interim Program Director
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology

 

Department Chair

Olutoye

Olutoyin A. Olutoye, MD
Anesthesiologist-in-Chief
Department Chair of Pediatric Anesthesiology
Arthur C. King Professorship in Anesthesiology

Program Coordinator

Brittany Dixon, C-TAGME
Heart Center
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago

About the Program

 Clinical Rotations

Our fellows work closely with our outstanding board-certified pediatric anesthesia faculty in a variety of clinical areas, including complex pediatric surgical cases, perioperative pain management services and critical care. Fellow case logs are frequently evaluated by our program director and operating room schedulers to ensure equitable clinical experiences. Our fellows consistently exceed all ACGME minimums, including over 75th percentile across the nation for neonatal cases and peripheral nerve blocks. 

Rotation

Length

Cardiac operating rooms, catheterization suites, and diagnostic imaging

38 weeks

Cardiac intensive care unit

4 weeks

Echocardiography

4 weeks
Cardiopulmonary 2 weeks
Elective 4 weeks

 Additional Education & Training

Core Training Goals & Responsibilities

Pediatric cardiac anesthesiology fellows will gain training and expertise in the perioperative management of children with congenital heart disease. Fellow responsibilities include the anesthetic management of patients with congenital heart disease and demonstrated development towards independence via completion of educational milestones. Fellows’ training follows the designed curriculum via case conferences, educational lectures, and pediatric cardiac anesthesia rotations (e.g., in cardiopulmonary bypass, cardiac ICU, etc.). Fellows are expected to be able to manage a patient in the cardiac anesthesia environment by the end of the fellowship year.

Our fellows gain experience managing medically complex patients, including children with congenital heart disease undergoing non-cardiac surgery. This formal cardiac rotation affords a hands-on opportunity to gain proficiency in neonatal and pediatric vascular access, including central venous and arterial cannulation.

Lecture Series

Fellows in this program, cardiac anesthesia and pediatric anesthesia fellows and faculty follow a cardiac anesthesia lecture series. In addition, there are Heart Center fellowship education and didactic calendars which the Pediatric Cardiac Anesthesia Fellow may be asked to attend, including cardiac ICU, cath lab, heart failure, and cardiology lecture series.

 Benefits

In addition to McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University benefits and wellness resources, Pediatric Anesthesiology fellows receive:

  • The PGY5 salary for the 2020-2021 academic year is $74,885 (as set forth by McGaw Medical Center)
  • 20 paid vacation days for PGY-2 and above
  • 2 weeks sick time, consistent with Northwestern GME policies
  • 1 week meeting time with program director approval
  • $2,000 meeting allowance (expenses approved by the program director)
  • Office space with computer
  • E-textbooks provided by the department: Cote's Pediatric Anesthesia and Andropoulos' Pediatric Cardiac Anesthesia

 How to Apply

Interested individuals should forward the following paterlais to the program coordinator, Brittany Dixon at bdixon@luriechildrens.org

 Why Northwestern?

Millennium Park in Chicago

Housestaff training through McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University provides diverse and challenging clinical experiences and world-class education located in the heart of the beautiful city of Chicago. Learn more via the links to the McGaw website below.

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