Pediatric Anesthesiology Fellowship

Doctors learning on pediatric simulations

Program Overview

The division of Pediatric Anesthesiology offers a one-year ACGME-accredited fellowship with the goal of graduating physicians who are technically skilled in the care of pediatric patients, and who will become leaders in the field through education, research and innovation.

Fellowship training at the UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital and clinics involves caring for pediatric patients in the operating rooms and other anesthetizing locations, the post-operative anesthesia care unit, and pediatric intensive care units.

Clinical education experiences include providing anesthesia for both inpatient and outpatient surgical procedures, and for non-operative procedures outside the operating rooms, as well as pre-anesthesia preparation and post-anesthesia care, pain management, and advanced life support for neonates, infants, children, and adolescents.

Mission

The mission of our Pediatric Anesthesiology Fellowship is to produce fellowship-trained physicians who serve the specialty and the community through technically skilled care of pediatric patients, scholarship, inquiry, and a commitment to lifelong learning.

Goals & Objectives

The program’s aims are encompassed in the following goals and objectives.

  1. Expanding and applying medical knowledge through scholarship, as measured by the number of publications, presentations, and other documented contributions to the subspecialty.
    • Objectives to meet this goal are:
      • Facilitate each fellow’s participation in basic, applied, or clinical outcomes research and provide each fellow with instruction in the fundamentals of research design and conduct, and the interpretation and presentation of data.
      • Ensure that each fellow contributes to the specialty in a documentable way, including, but not limited to presentations at local, regional, national, or international conferences, peer-reviewed journal publications or online educational or research platforms such as the Anesthesia Toolbox, and participation in educational activities for the community, medical professionals and patients.
  2. Provide fellows with superior training as they care for patients with the most challenging pediatric comorbidities, as measured by subspecialty board pass rates at or above the national average.
    • Objectives to meet this goal are:
      • Provide a comprehensive clinical training program across a variety of settings, including in-patient, ambulatory, and intensive care.
      • Provide didactic training based on core knowledge in pediatric anesthesiology, including the identification of pediatric patients who exhibit signs of addiction.
  3. Establish in our fellows a culture of patient safety and quality improvement as measured by documented fellow contributions to departmental and/or institutional patient safety and quality improvement efforts.
    • Objectives to meet this goal are:
      • Facilitate each fellow’s involvement in specific, measurable patient safety/quality improvement initiatives.
      • Provide each fellow with training on root cause analysis.

Research

The UF Department of Anesthesiology excels in providing leadership and innovation in all aspects of discovery including its creation, dissemination, and application. Research in anesthesiology has traditionally focused on a systems biology approach, consistent with the specialty’s clinical role in monitoring critical systems and ensuring survival during our most vulnerable stages of the perioperative period.  Research administrators and coordinators, grants specialists, IRB support, and clinical nurses are available to participate in research efforts.

Pediatric anesthesia faculty research interests include:

  • Perioperative stress response in infants
  • Anesthesia and perioperative care for neonatal emergencies
  • Anesthetic management of pediatric complications and syndromes
  • Anesthetic optimization in adolescents
  • Caudal anesthesia in pediatric patients
  • Regional vs. general anesthesia in pediatric patients
  • Pediatric patient safety and quality improvement

To Apply

IMPORTANT: Applicants must register and apply through the SF Match. The SF Match is sponsored by the Pediatric Anesthesiology Program Directors’ Association (PAPDA), a section of the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia. Applications will ONLY be completed, submitted, and distributed through the SF Match Central Application Service (CAS).  For further information about the Match process, please visit the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia’s website.

General Timeline

Applications for the UF program will be accepted beginning in early January through the end of May via the SF Match Central Application Service.

Invitations to interview are expected to be offered between February and early June. 

Required Documents

To be considered, please submit:

  • Completed application
  • CV
  • Personal statement/answers to essay questions
  • Medical school transcripts
  • Copies of USMLE/COMLEX scores
  • Copies of BASIC, ITE scores
  • 3 or 4 letters of recommendation, one must be from residency program director

Contact fellowship director Cole Dooley, MD or fellowship coordinator Aleshia Sirmons if you have additional questions about the program.