Program Description

The McMaster University Residency Program in Anesthesia is a traditional five year program.  Clinical teaching occurs in three clinical teaching units, housed in four acute care hospitals in Hamilton, Ontario.  Currently, (2008), there are 36 residents enrolled in the Program.

The Department consists of 80 faculty members, a full-time research coordinator, a part-time biostatistician and a full complement of secretarial staff, including an experienced full-time Program Assistant.

Two members of faculty are currently engaged in obtaining graduate degrees in Medical Education and one is enrolled in a Master’s Program in Medical Administration.  Two faculty members have completed the Master’s in Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, one of whom is the Faculty Research Coordinator.  One faculty member is an MD/PhD (Psychology), who has expertise in human factors relating to medical error and patient safety and is the Director of the Clinical Learning Centre, which houses the High Fidelity Simulator Lab.

Other faculty have completed fellowships in Pain Management and Regional Anesthesia, Critical Care, Cardiac Anesthesia and Pediatric Anesthesia.  Nine faculty do Chronic Pain Management as part of their practice.  A comprehensive Chronic Pain Centre is located at the Hamilton General Hospital.  Two anesthesiologists at St. Joseph’s Healthcare also have a busy chronic pain practice.

PGY1

The PGY1 year is part of the McMaster Basic Clinical Training program.  Mandatory rotations include two months each of anesthesia, internal medicine, obstetrics, pediatrics, one month of general surgery and one month of thoracic surgery.  A two month elective period exists where residents may choose a rotation including emergency medicine, psychiatry, radiology or anesthesia.  All residents do a two month mandatory rotation in anesthesia in July and August and an elective opportunity is available in May or June.  The anesthesia rotation occurs in July/August to allow PGY1 residents to participate in the introductory academic sessions in conjunction with the PGY2 residents during the summer months.

PGY2

This year is spent in rotations through all three hospital sites.  Residents gain experience in the basics of anesthesia in the operating room and obstetrical units.  Pediatric experience is obtained primarily at McMaster University Medical Centre.  Residents also take part in pre-assessment clinics and the acute pain services at each institution.

PGY3

The PGY3 year is spent in rotations in adult and pediatric critical care as well as subspecialty internal medicine.  Residents participate in two months each of cardiology and respirology and may choose from nephrology, hematology, infectious diseases or endocrinology for their elective rotations.

PGY4

This year is comprised of rotations in subspecialty anesthesia including cardiac, neurosurgical, pediatric, high-risk obstetrics and thoracic anesthesia.  A one-month rotation in chronic pain management also occurs in the PGY4 year as well as a rotation in community based anesthesia practice.

PGY5

The final year of training is a general clinical year when individual areas of interest may be pursued.  Opportunities for further experience in subspecialty anesthesia, research or other scholarly activity including education or epidemiology in the McMaster Health Research Methodology Program are readily available.  An intensive program of preparation for the Royal College written and oral examinations takes place during this final year.  A component of the senior years of training will involve a two-month mandatory community based rotation in Anesthesia.  This may be completed in your PGY4 or 5 year at a location negotiated between the program and the resident.  Elective opportunities at other centres may also be arranged.

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Scholarly Activities

In order to complete the training program, residents are required to be involved in some form of scholarly activity.  This may involve participation in a research project, quality assurance project, educational or epidemiology course work or clinical teaching.  This affords residents the opportunity to grow in their academic ability, and helps them to fulfill the Royal College CanMEDS 2005 competency requirements.

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Seminars

Residents at McMaster are involved in a day-long academic session each week.  The morning sessions are tutorials, facilitated by faculty members, involving subject material pertinent to the level of training of each year of the program.  The PGY2 sessions consist of the basics of clinical and theoretical anesthesia, critical care, pharmacology and internal medicine as well as topics relating to the non-expert competencies required for clinical practice.  The PGY4 series focuses on topics in subspecialty anesthesia, medicine and surgery, and is geared toward preparation for the Royal College written examination.  The PGY5 series is directed at organization of material required for the Royal College written and oral examinations.

The afternoon sessions allow the residents to organize seminars and presentations in areas of interest which may include guest speakers, journal article reviews, written examinations and practice oral examinations.  The content of these sessions changes from year to year and affords residents the opportunity to customize their educational experience based on individual needs.

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Simulator Training Opportunities

The Simulator Course at McMaster University affords the opportunity for both teaching and learning in the simulator environment.  Residents are involved as teachers for the Clerkship rotation.  A Simulator curriculum is being developed to provide residents with training in Simulator management, with the expectation that senior residents will be able to write, run and debrief their own simulator scenarios.

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Training Sites

Resources

The McMaster University Anesthesia Residency Program comprises three clinical teaching units located at St. Joseph’s Healthcare and the Hamilton General, Henderson General and McMaster University Medical Centre campuses of the Hamilton Health Sciences.  St. Joseph’s Healthcare is the regional centre for respiratory, renal and head and neck disease.  It also houses a busy obstetrical unit averaging 3,000 deliveries per year.  The McMaster campus of the Hamilton Health Sciences contains the regional high risk obstetric, pediatric and neonatal programs.  The Hamilton Health Sciences General campus houses all the regional burn, cardiac, vascular, neurosurgical, major spine surgery and trauma programs as well as supporting a busy general surgical service.  The Hamilton Health Sciences Henderson campus acts as a resource for the General Clinical Teaching Unit, providing experience in the regional arthroplasty and oncology programs and is affiliated with the Hamilton Regional Cancer Centre.

These clinical resources offer the anesthesia resident unlimited opportunity to obtain the fundamentals of anesthesia as well as explore areas of subspecialty interest and scholarly activity in both education and research.

Library Facilities

Computer access is available at all clinical sites and residents are registered with Lib access, which provides a comprehensive list of medical journals on line.  Texts are kept in specific Department libraries at McMaster, St. Joseph’s Healthcare, which are accessible at all hours.  The University Medical Library is on-site at McMaster University Medical Centre and hospital libraries are located at the Hamilton General, Henderson and St. Joseph’s Healthcare.  All are readily accessible to the residents.

Resident Research

Resident research is actively encouraged.  Protected time can be made available during the residency for research activity.  The Department of Anesthesia has a full-time research coordinator on staff, a research methodologist with a 20% commitment to Anesthesia and a biostatistician with a 50% commitment.

Funding may be made available to one resident per year for graduate degree studies in any field.

Outreach

The McMaster Residency Program has ties with a hospital in Haiti, with one faculty member doing extensive work there over the past two decades.  An anesthesiologist in Uganda holds a faculty position with the Department of Anesthesia and runs an elective there for one resident each year, funded by the Department of Anesthesia at St. Joseph’s Healthcare.

Exam Preparation

The Core Program in PGY2 and 4 provides a basis for academic preparation for the Royal College exams.  Formal practice orals are held twice yearly.  In the PGY5 year, informal oral preparation is arranged by the residents.  Our track record on the examinations has been excellent.

Financial Support

From the PGY2, 4 and 5year, the Residency Program provides a stipend of $750/year for travel to conferences.  In the PGY2 year and in the PGY4 or 5 year, this may be applied to book purchases.  A separate stipend of $300 is provided as a book allowance in the PGY2 year.

ACLS courses are provided for all residents.  ATLS is provided in the PGY2 year.  $450 is allocated toward the cost of the ATLS course, with the remainder to be paid for by the resident.  The resident can draw from their conference fund in order to cover the remaining costs.  The PALS course is also provided in the PGY2 year, the cost being covered by the Departments of Anesthesia and Pediatrics.

Special Award Events

Reach for the Top

First started in 1986, this yearly trivia contest pits a resident team against a staff team, with a dinner following the competition.

Resident Exchange Day

This is held yearly with the University of Western Ontario with the site alternating between the two campuses.  Research and academic projects are presented and judged, with the top three receiving prizes.  A dinner follows the presentations.

CanMEDS Retreat

This dinner event was first held in 2008, in an effort to obtain input from residents and members of the Residency Training Committee on how we should be teaching and evaluating the non-expert CanMEDS competencies.  It is planned that a similar event will continue, on a yearly basis, for both residents and staff, to share ideas for program improvement.

Program Director’s Annual Barbeque

While the residents have yet to see the Program Director actually barbeque this informal, backyard, dinner meeting at the Program Director’s home is held annually in early July, for residents and faculty.  Spouses, children and significant others are invited and welcome.

Anesthesia Residency Program Director
Dr. Fred Baxter
Department of Anesthesia, Room 2U
Faculty of Health Sciences
McMaster University
1200 Main St. W.
Hamilton, ON  L8N 3Z5
Tel:  905-521-2100, ext. 75170
Fax:  905-523-1224
Email:  baxterf@mcmaster.ca

Program Assistant
Ms. Judy Pace
Department of Anesthesia, Room 2U
Faculty of Health Sciences
McMaster University
1200 Main St. W.
Hamilton, ON  L8N 3Z5
Tel:  905-521-2100, ext. 75170
Fax:  905-523-1224
Email:  pace@mcmaster.ca

Fellowship Programs

Fellowship Programs in Chronic Pain Management, Pediatric Anesthesia and Cardiac Anesthesia are offered.  These are run through the office of the Chair, Department of Anesthesia.

Chair, Department of Anesthesia
Dr. D. Norman Buckley
Department of Anesthesia, Room 2U1
Faculty of Health Sciences
McMaster University
1200 Main St. W.
Hamilton, ON  L8N 3Z5
Tel:  905-521-2100, ext. 75166
Fax:  905-523-1224
Email:  buckleyn@mcmaster.ca

Secretary to the Chair, Department of Anesthesia
Ms. Mary Gahagan
Department of Anesthesia, Room 2U
Faculty of Health Sciences
McMaster University
1200 Main St. W.
Hamilton, ON  L8N 3Z5
Tel:  905-521-2100, ext. 75166
Fax:  905-523-1224
Email:  gahaganm@mcmaster.ca