Regional Anesthesiology & Acute Pain Medicine Fellowship

The RAAPM Fellowship Program at the McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University is designed to train future leaders in clinical care and academic scholarship within the subspecialty of Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine.  

At the completion of the fellowship program, graduates will be able to:

• Devise and execute regional anesthetic plans for healthy and medically complex adult and pediatric patients presenting for various types of surgery, including, but not limited to, orthopedic surgery, plastic surgery, breast surgery, general surgery, thoracic surgery, etc. 
• Recognize and treat complications of regional anesthetic techniques and acute pain management, including hemorrhagic, infectious, neurological, and pharmacological complications.
• Devise and execute an acute pain management plan for healthy and medically complex adult and pediatric patients experiencing surgical and non-surgical acute pain and acute-on-chronic pain. 
• Exhibit their expertise in the utilization of ultrasound-guidance for the performance of routine and advanced peripheral nerve blocks in patients with normal and complex anatomy.
• Apply advanced anatomical, physiological, and pharmacological knowledge to the practice of regional anesthesia and acute pain medicine.
• Effectively communicate a regional anesthetic or acute pain management plan to patients with procedural alternatives
• Organize and manage an efficient regional anesthesia and acute pain medicine service.
• Effectively supervise and teach trainees in the practice of regional anesthetic and acute pain management procedures.
• Execute a quality improvement project
• Present scholarly work at a national society meeting such as ASA or ASRA.

Clinical Education

Fellows will experience a diverse regional anesthesia and acute pain medicine clinical case load while rotating at NMH and LCH.  They will function as an integral member of the regional anesthesia team both working alongside and supervising anesthesia residents. Over the duration of the program, fellows are expected to expand their supervisory skills and grow into a leadership role within the regional and acute pain teams. In addition, they will rotate in the Chronic Pain Clinic to gain additional exposure to this patient population and procedural techniques.  

At NMH, fellows will have primary clinical responsibilities at different locations based on their rotation schedule: our orthopedic operating pavilion is located in the Lavin building, where fellows will get exposed to a high volume and diverse orthopedic population with a focus on primary anesthetic nerve blocks and fast-track encounters; at the Feinberg/Galter pavilions, the fellows will gain experience with highly complex patients requiring advanced blocks and nerve catheters, as well as the acute pain service. Overall, fellows will gain experience in regional anesthesia and acute pain management with an emphasis on indications, contraindications, side effects, potential complications and perioperative management of patients receiving regional anesthesia and patients on the acute pain service.  Specifically, fellows will become experts in multimodal analgesic techniques, neuraxial procedures, peripheral nerve blocks, peripheral nerve catheters, local anesthetic infusions, narcotic infusions, and non-narcotic analgesic adjuvants.  

At LCH, fellows will gain experience in the multimodal analgesic management of infants, children, and adolescents, including the use of neuraxial techniques, peripheral nerve catheters, opioid infusions and non-opioid adjuvants with emphasis on indications, adverse effects, potential complications and everyday management of infusions. The fellow will manage the regional anesthesia service, under faculty guidance, and will execute regional anesthesia techniques in infants, children and adolescents.  Specifically, the fellows will perform head and neck blocks, upper and lower extremity blocks, truncal blocks, thoracic epidural catheters, and lumbar epidural catheters. The fellow will be provided an opportunity to supervise anesthesia residents in anesthesia in the use of ultrasonography for peripheral and central neuraxial blocks.

Rotations

• Northwestern Memorial Hospital (9 months)
  • Regional Anesthesiology (6 months)
  • Acute Pain Medicine (3 months)
  • Chronic Pain Clinic (2 weeks)

• Lurie Children’s Hospital (3 months)
  • Regional Anesthesiology
  • Acute Pain Medicine
  • Chronic Pain Clinic

Research/Scholarly Work

Fellows are expected to perform research or other scholarly projects under the mentorship of a faculty member.  Fellows will have a bank of 25 protected nonclinical days for approved scholarly activities that can be taken intermittently or sequentially. 

Quality Improvement

Fellows will complete at least one quality improvement project under the mentorship of a faculty member. Projects should be designed to address at least one of the domains of healthcare quality(safe, effective, patient-centered, timely, efficient, equitable). Fellows will complete a formal project proposal that must be approved by the program director.  After implementation, fellows will summarize and present the project and its impact to the faculty.

Conferences

• Bi-weekly dedicated Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine Fellowship Lecture Series.  This lecture series is curated to cover advanced topics in the subspecialty.  Fellows are relieved from clinical duties to attend. 
• Weekly Regional Anesthesia Journal Club/M&M.  Residents and fellows will select and present landmark articles or recent research papers.  The fellows will assist residents in article selection under the guidance of faculty.  
• Bi-weekly Anesthesiology Common Fellowship Lecture Series.  This lecture series is curated to cover topics important to Anesthesiology fellows in all subspecialties and include topics in professional development, career planning, and board preparation. 
• Weekly Department of Anesthesiology Grand Rounds.  Fellows will attend Grand Rounds every week and will present a regional anesthesiology or acute pain medicine topic once per year.  
• Weekly Resident Lecture Series.  The fellows will present a topic to the residents as part of the Regional Anesthesiology Rotation Lecture Series.  
• Weekly Ultrasound Workshop at Lurie Children’s.  While rotating and LCH, fellows will teach, with faculty guidance, a hands-on ultrasound workshop to residents. 

Simulation

Fellows will participate in a dedicated simulation curriculum designed to expose the fellow to rare complications and patient safety events.  This curriculum will be administered by regional anesthesia faculty and will occur in the Northwestern Anesthesiology Center for Clinical Simulation.

Global Health

Global Health opportunities are available with Regional faculty.

Fellows will have the opportunity to participate in clinical and/or laboratory research and will be given appropriate non-clinical 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. An appropriate attending anesthesiologist will be appointed to mentor and assist the fellow to facilitate these goals. 

The types of activities that would suffice as academic projects include:

• Research paper and/or case report submitted to a peer-reviewed journal and presented at a national society meeting
• Clinical chart review or a review article submitted to and accepted by a peer-reviewed journal
• Book chapter or other endeavors
• Grant submission for extramural funding

Fellows will have the opportunity to participate in regional anesthesia workshops at national meetings including the American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA), American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA), Society for Pediatric Anesthesia (SPA) and the International Anesthesia Research Society. Fellows will attend at least one national meeting.

Fellows are evaluated quarterly. Fellows will meet with  the program director semiannually and as needed to assess their progress through the program.  Successful completion of the program will be contingent upon meeting ACGME milestones. In addition, the trainee must complete at least one scholarly project suitable for publication, make one national meeting presentation and show evidence of teaching medical students and residents.

In addition to McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University benefits and wellness resources, Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine fellows receive:

• Fellows receive a stipend of $87,376  
• $700 education fund for professional development (e.g. board fees, books, etc.)
• Paid membership into ASRA and ASA 
• Fellows who present at a national meeting will receive time and funding to attend
• Additional funding for a second academic/research meeting; fellows who present an abstract at a national meeting will receive funding for a second meeting, based on the program director's approval
• Voluntary paid call opportunities in the operating rooms and in OB
• Dedicated office space with desktop computer

Applications for the 2025-26 fellowship year are now closed. Please check back here for updates on the 2026-27 year.

Required documents: 

• Fellowship Application (PDF)
• A current curriculum vitae
• Official copies of scores for USMLE Steps 1-3
• Results of the two most recent ABA/ASA in-training exams
• Copy of the summary evaluation for Regional Anesthesia rotation
• Two letters of recommendation from anesthesiologists
• One letter of recommendation from the anesthesiology training program director or chair
• A brief statement explaining interest in pursuing a fellowship position

To be considered for a Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine fellowship position, candidates must be eligible for certification or fully certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology before fellowship training begins.

Candidates must have taken USMLE Step 3 and obtain a temporary or permanent Illinois Medical License before starting their fellowship training. Licensing information and application can be found at the Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulations website. To apply for a permanent license, the applicant must already have taken the USMLE Step 3. Please be aware that it may take up to 60 days to process and grant an Illinois license.

For more information, contact Northwestern's Office of Graduate Medical Education:

McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University

420 E. Superior St.

Suite 9-900

Chicago, IL 60611

312-503-7975

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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