Frequently asked questions

How is the internship structured?

Our internship year is crafted such that we focus on development of well-rounded competent physicians even prior to their starting rigorous anesthesiology residency training. We attempt to immerse our interns into their anesthesiology training program early, and frequently, to help enhance the close relationship among our residents and anesthesia faculty. Our goal is to help our interns adjust to relocating to a new city, hospital system and their chosen profession. Required rotations for our interns include 5 months of medicine, which is comprised of general inpatient medicine, cardiology, renal medicine, 2 weeks in our Center of Peri-operative Care, 1 week on Inpatient anesthesia consult team and a 1 week Blood Bank rotation. You will also participate in 2 ICU month, one in the Neuro-critical care unit and the other as part of the Anesthesia Critical Care Team in the CVICU. To better understand airway pathology, you will participate in a one month ENT rotation. You will also spend one month on your Emergency Medicine rotation. You will also have two separate months to rotate within the department of anesthesiology. Your paid vacation time will occur during these two months such that 10 days will be taken during each of those months.

Is there sufficient anesthesia experience during intern year so that you have experience when you start your CA-1 year?

Yes. There are a total of 1 month of anesthesia during your intern year – a half month in the 1st half of the year and another half month in the 2nd half of the year. You are typically paired with a senior resident every day for this month. The first half of the month is meant for us to just get our feet wet in anesthesia, learn where everything is located, appreciate the OR workflow, get to know faculty and residents, etc. The 2nd time around you begin attempting procedures under close supervision, discuss with faculty about anesthetic plans, and begin taking more responsibility at your own comfort level. Overall, these rotations are low stress and are meant to get you oriented to anesthesia.

Is free parking provided?

Yes.

Do you provide an Educational fund?

Yes.

Are there moonlighting opportunities?

Yes. Internal paid moonlighting opportunities are available for CA-1, CA-2 and CA-3 residents in good academic standing. Moonlighting shifts are fairly distributed among eligible interested residents and include opportunities in the main OR, OB and cardiac ICU. All moonlighting hours must fall within work hour limits.

How much call will I take?

Call varies from rotation to rotation. Call shifts are 24 hour shifts. While on your OR anesthesia rotations, you will take anywhere between 2-4 call shifts per month. You will never exceed 4 call shifts/month.

What are the electives?

Elective rotations are for the benefit of the resident and we are open to arranging most any elective rotation with educational value. Our most common elective rotations include Cardiac/TEE, regional anesthesia, pediatric anesthesiology, chronic pain, ICU, global humanitarian outreach, research and transition to practice.

What is the role of CRNAs in the department?

CRNAs are a very important component of the anesthesia care team model. In this residency program, you will have the opportunity to work with our CRNAs on your transition to practice rotation and better understand your future role as leader of the anesthesia care team. We have a large and very busy operating room with many offsite locations. Our residents are given preferential scheduling of high educational value cases with core teaching faculty.

Do you accept Osteopathic graduates?

Yes.

Do I need to have taken USMLE Step 2 to apply?

It is not required that you have taken Step 2 at the time of application, however passing Step 2 is essential prior to an applicant being able to start residency training. Our goal is to rank applicants who are expected to be able to start residency training on time.

Do you accept international medical students? What type of visas are sponsored?

We consider all applicants to our program and offer invitations based on performance and best fit for our program.  We only sponsor H-1 visas.

How many application do you receive each year?

Typically, we receive around 1800 applications.

What does you program look for in residency applicants?

Anesthesiology is a team sport. Desirable characteristics in our applicants are those that demonstrate leadership skills, professionalism, adaptability, collegiality and innate motivation to succeed. Our residency culture focuses on bringing about the best from not only ourselves but also those around us. Strong academic performance is an easier metric to assess and does factor in to our decision whether to offer an invitation to interview.

What is your faculty to resident ratio?

In the OR, there is typically a 1:2 faculty to resident ratio. This means that an attending anesthesiologist is covering 2 resident rooms.

What is the cost of living in Cincinnati?

Cincinnati is the “# 1 most affordable cost of living of any major metro area” (Bureau of Economic Analysis) – Median Household Income: $45,235, Median Home Sale Price: $229,000.

What is a typical work day like for a resident?

Typical day on your general anesthesia rotations: You call the attending the night before to discuss your cases for the next day. You usually come in around 6am to set up the OR. You meet your patient in Same Day Surgery and place the IV. (A quick note, IVs are placed by the resident for first case starts only.) You will perform any other procedures (arterial line, nerve block, etc) needed to get the patient ready for surgery. At 7:30 you will take the patient to the OR. The attending will give you a 15 minute break in the morning and a 30 minute break for lunch. Some attendings may give you a short break in the afternoon as well. You will either finish your cases or be relieved between 4 pm and 6 pm (also rare). The average time you are done for the day is around 4pm.

Do you have a minimum Board Examination score requirement for acceptance into residency?

We look at each application in totality. Board scores do play a part in assessing whether an application warrants an invite to interview. However, a single data point cutoff does not eliminate a candidate from consideration with an otherwise strong application. 

Do you accept COMLEX scores for applications?

Yes.

What benefits do the residents receive?

Free iPad (or equivalent E-Reader) and access to electronic books and resources, meeting and academic allowance, health, dental and life insurance. Residents are provided short and long term disability, professional liability insurance (malpractice) and worker’s compensation.

How much time do residents get for vacations? Meetings?

Residents receive 20 paid vacation days per year (counted as M-F days). Residents are also allowed 5 meeting days (counted as work days).

Do resident have to travel to many different hospitals for rotations?

The University of Cincinnati Medical Center is the “University Hospital” where you will complete a majority of your residency training. During the course of your residency training, you may be required to travel to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital which is on the same campus as UCMC. Other rotations that require travel include your chronic pain rotation, regional anesthesia elective and Transition to Practice elective, which occur on our Westchester Campus in Westchester, Ohio (20 minutes north of UCMC by car).

Are positions available outside the match?

No.

What fellowships are offered?

We offer 6 anesthesia fellowships: Cardiac, chronic pain, critical care, regional anesthesia and acute pain medicine, obstetrics.  Pediatric Anesthesia is offered at the Cincinnati Children's Medical Center. 

What is the 1st month of the CA-1 year like? 

This is one of the more challenging months in residency because you are entering a new environment and you are learning brand new skill. However, you have a lot of supervision and help along the way. CA-1s are paired with senior residents each day for the 1st month. The CA-1 is given more autonomy as the weeks progress until they are able to perform an anesthetic without senior resident supervision. There are practical lectures in the beginning of the month to get you oriented to the nuts and bolts of anesthesia. The senior residents will give you survival tips. You will not take call the 1st month but you will feel prepared to take call in the subsequent months.

What do the graduates do after graduation?