Anesthesiology Residency Lubbock

At Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, the Anesthesiology faculty developed a comprehensive curriculum to reflect current changes in the ABA Basic Sciences and Advanced Examinations. This curriculum begins during the Clinical Base Year and continues throughout the residency.

Residents have protected lecture time (in which they are free from all clinical activity) each Friday from 0600 – 1130 with every residency class including the interns. In addition to these lectures, there is also a department-wide Morbidity & Mortality conference, also on Friday. These Friday morning lectures cover an extensive range of topics.

Topic Range

• Faculty directed, Resident Key Word presentation
• Faculty led Board Question Review
• Basic Science lectures
• Oral Board Scenarios
• TEE, TTE and US for Regional Anesthesia lectures with faculty in the Simulation Center
• Senior Resident led Weekly Chapter Review
• Resident Challenging Case Review
• Monthly Journal Club

Each Friday there is an opportunity for residents to participate in guided simulation scenario with faculty at our state of the art F. Marie Hall Simlife Center. This includes a pre-constructed scenario based on the ABA MOCA training guidelines in order to familiarize residents with simulation and challenging scenarios to better prepare residents for the Stage 2 APPLIED Examination.

Clinical Base

12 months (13 Blocks) 4 Family Medicine Floor , 1 Surgery Trauma, 1 OB, 1 Neuro ICU, 1 MICU, 1 ER, 1 STAR (outpatient)/Ultrasound, 1 QI, 1 Elective & 1 Anesthesia

Anesthesia

• CA 1 - 4 OR, Pre-Op, PEDS, 2 AICU, OB, ENT/Airway; Neuro, Echo
• CA 2 - 4 OR, PEDS II, CT I, Pain I, Regional, AICU II, OB II, PEDS III(away), Neuro
• CA 3 - 2 OR, AICU, ACUTE, OR Mgmnt, TTP/NORA, Ambulatory, Pain II, CT II, Neuro III, Echo II, Research

The stipends for residents at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center are consistent with other medical centers in the Southwest area and may undergo adjustments each year. Stipends are currently $750 per year and may be used for books or for the Advanced and Basic Board examinations. In addition, financial support is available for outside rotations including Dallas Children's.

More information as to TTUHSC Resident Salaries and other information can be obtained via the Office of Graduate Medical Education.

Medical and Dental Insurance

Medical, Dental & Vision Insurance is provided for graduate trainees with a cost share option for dependent coverage if elected. Insurance is provided through the University and includes major medical and special hospital allowances, which provide additional coverage for maternity and out-patient care.

Other Benefits

Lab Coats, Black Fleece & Scrub Jackets are provided to each resident plus $120 per month credit for the hospital cafeteria.

Continuing Medical Education

Lab Coats, Black Fleece & Scrub Jackets are provided to each resident plus $120 per month credit for the hospital cafeteria.

Vacation

Interns and CA-1 residents are able to take 15 days of vacation plus 5 days of sick leave per year. The CA-2 and CA-3 residents are given 20 days of vacation per year. This is in addition to the five days of Educational leave which is allowed for attendance to a professional meeting. 

Facilities

The majority of training takes place at the University Medical Center (UMC) and Grace Clinic located. UMC is adjacent to Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, Texas and while Grace Clinic is located within a two mile radius of the medical district.

University Medical Center is the primary teaching hospital for the School of Medicine at Texas Tech University HSC. UMC is a 495 bed facility operated by the Lubbock County Hospital District. University Medical Center houses the West Texas perinatal center and the regional burn center. UMC is the first hospital in Texas to receive a Trauma One designation. Subspecialty care capabilities of the faculty and staff make the hospital a focal point of tertiary care for West Texas and the surrounding states. University Medical Center is a JCAHO accredited hospital which has 19 operating rooms, 18 labor and delivery rooms and 3 Obstetrical OR suites. UMC also offers a 8 bed Day Surgery Center for outpatient procedures. In the newly built West Tower in addition to the Labor and Delivery facilities there is also a state of the art Endoscopy Suite. The anesthesiology resident also has the opportunity for intensive care training in the 20 bed Surgical, 30 bed Medical, 20 bed Cardiac and the 14 bed pediatric Intensive Care Units. UMC has also recently opened a health and wellness facility that the residents will rotate through - The facility includes the Cancer Center Infusion at The City Bank Infusion Center, Cardiac Rehab, Emergency Center, Inpatient Beds, Laboratory services and a top-notch Medical Fitness Center called UMC Connect. Additionally it provides occupational and physical therapy services, operating rooms, and cardiac catheterization facilities

Grace Clinic has an agreement to allow CA-2 and CA-3 residents to rotate there for one month for the pain medicine rotation in the pain clinic. This rotation is intended to allow for a greater exposure to pain medicine.

Training Sites

University Health System

The primary training center for Texas Tech HSC residents is University Health System. The University Medical Center is a major medical site for over 400,000 patients annually and is one of the only sites in Texas that houses both a Level 1 Trauma Center and a Regional Burn Center. It has a large patient draw area comprising of patients from Southeastern New Mexico, Southern Oklahoma, and West Texas. The 412 bed Medical Center sees annually a large segment of diverse patients from across these areas every day. In addition to Adult Medical, Surgical, Burn, and Cardiac Intensive Care Units, it has a full service Children's Hospital with a 14 bed Pediatric ICU and 42 bed Neonatal ICU. It is constantly recognized as one of the "Best Places to Work for in Texas" by Texas Monthly and was recently honored as the number 2 "Best Places to Work in Healthcare" by Modern Healthcare.

Grace Health System

The Grace Health System is large multi-specialty clinic and Surgery Center that houses the Pain clinic of Dr. Miles Day. Residents have the opportunity to rotate here during their CA-2 year and as an elective in the CA-3 year. It is located approximately two miles from University Medical Center. At Grace Clinic, residents will participate in seeing patients in the outpatient clinic as well as assisting in interventional pain procedures in the Day Surgery Center.

Children's Medical Center of Dallas

CA-2 Residents also perform a one month long rotation at Children's Medical Center of Dallas. It is the only dedicated Pediatric Hospital in North Texas and is the fifth largest healthcare provider in the nation. It houses 487 beds and sees over 400,000 patients annually. It offers specialized services in pediatric heart disease, organ transplant, Cystic Fibrosis, and Hematology-Oncology. Here residents work one on one with pediatric trained anesthesiologists experiencing complex surgeries on patients with multiple co-morbidities.

All residents exceed RRC minimum standards, and in most categories exceed 1.5-4 times the RCC procedure requirements.

The mean RRC required case data for previous year graduates is shown below:

Letter From the Co-Chief Residents

Dear Applicant,

Welcome to the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Management at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. Thank you for your interest in the department. We hope that the following will give you a good idea of the many benefits our program has to offer.

The clinical base year is completed at University Medical Center in Lubbock. Rotations include neuro intensive care unit, medical intensive care unit, family medicine inpatient, a dedicated POCUS rotation, a STAR Center outpatient rotation, and obstetrics & gynecology just to name a few. The year is designed to give you a solid background in the areas that will be most beneficial to your career as an anesthesiologist. The year culminates with a month of transition to the operating room.

 The clinical anesthesia years contain subspecialty rotations in a variety of settings. All clinical rotations take place at University Medical Center in Lubbock, though you also rotate through an office-based pain practice, and a anesthesia staffed ICU. The variety of experiences will give you a valuable insight into the different ways anesthesia is practiced in various settings.

Training at Texas Tech Anesthesiology means practicing at the center of a massive regional catchment area, where complex, specialized cases and early clinical autonomy prepare you perfectly to thrive as a private practice attending or match into elite fellowships.

Andrew Knight, MD
Chief Resident
TTUHSC Department of Anesthesiology

Didactics
Didactics are an important part of training, and our department is committed to insightful resident education. Didactics occur every Friday and include protected time for lectures, written and oral board preparation, resident lead instruction, case presentation, morbidity and mortality conferences, and journal club. In addition to didactics, we also have a state-of-the-art simulation center that serves as a location for the Maintenance of Certification in Anesthesiology Program®. Didactics specifically for the clinical base year and CA-1 residents are focused on preparing for the ABA BASIC examination that occurs after the CA-1 year.

Research
Resident participation in research is thoroughly promoted by the department. There are a multitude of complex cases for presentation at various conferences including ASA, ASRA, GAARRC, just to name a few. Departmental support for these research presentations is truly phenomenal, and the department is dedicated to furthering resident participation.

Resident Life
Life in Lubbock, Texas, is perfectly suited for residents. Short commutes, on-site parking, extremely affordable cost of living, and the friendly community are only some of what Lubbock has to offer. With 260 days of sunshine per year, enjoying the mild climate is easy. Lubbock has a population of almost 289,000, with a student population over 40,000 and the usual amenities of a university town. UMC is the referral level 1 trauma center for West Texas, Eastern New Mexico, and Western Oklahoma, encompassing a population of around 1.5 million. We experience great case diversity including many trauma situations and are among the top in the nation for case numbers.

Thank you again for considering our program. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions. We look forward to meeting you and showing you everything that the department of Anesthesiology and Pain Management at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center has to offer.

Sincerely,
Joe Cafferata, MD & Andrew Knight, MD