Department of Anesthesiology
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Division of Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology
Compassionate | Creative | Committed | Collaborative
INTRODUCTION
The
Vanderbilt Adult Cardiotho racic An esth esia Fellowship Prog ram is committed to providing
the high est quality t rainin g for futu re leaders, educators, an d p ractitioners of cardiothoracic
anesthesia. We offer a breadth of clinical experience including, but not limited to:
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On-pump coronary artery bypass surgery
Off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery (OPCAB)
Valve surgery
Minimally invasive surgery
Aortic surgery (including DHCA)
Thoracic surgery (VATS, open and interventional pulmonology)
Airway reconstruction
Heart and lung transplant
Ventricular assist device placement
Hybrid operating room procedures (Atricure, TAVR, Mitraclip, Lariat, Watchman)
Our ACGME-accredit ed p rogram o ffers th ree on e-year p ositions av ailabl e annu ally. We h ave m ad e an
application to expand the fello wship and expect to fill fiv e positions starting in 2017. For ou r large clinical
volume (1,500 cardi ac cas es/y ear), the n umber of fello ws in the program is rel atively sm all, allowing th e
opportunity fo r a person alized, tailored edu cation al exp eri en ce fo r each fellow. While the fellowship h as a
primary focus of clinical training, fellows are required to complete at least one acad emic proj ect with a faculty
mentor during their fellowship year.
For fello wship candid ates interest ed in a mo re
intensive res earch exp eri ence, we o ffer a research track
in Cardiothoracic An esthesi a whi ch req u i res a 2-year
commitment. The first year co nsists of research
condu cted under the supervision of a faculty memb er at
Van derbilt, and may be sp ent in any suitable labo rat ory
or res earch group. Th e seco nd year is spent in the regul ar
clinical fello wship, an d successful compl etion of this
program will enabl e a comp etitive application to the
dep artmental NIH T32 trainin g p rog ram fo r acad emic
periop erativ e ph ysicians (75% p rotected non -clini cal
time). Durin g this adv an ced research p rogram, fellows
may simultan eously pursu e a Mast er of Scien ce in
Clinical Investig ation (MSCI), a master’s prog ram
speci fically design ed to pai r young inv estig ators with
establish ed mentors and pro vide cours ework in
statistical an alysis an d clinical trial design. Applicants
with an interest in this acad emic p ath may als o apply
after their clinical fellowship year.
There are also clinical two-y ear fellowship options for
fellows who wish to pursue addition al subspecialty
training an d/or certifi cation in critical care, pain, or
pediatric cardiac anesthesiology.
CLINICAL PROGRAM
The clini cal p rog ram
follows th e course o f study o utlined b y the ACGME Adult Cardiothoracic
Anesthesia Fellowship criteria.
Adult cardiothoracic rotation (7 months)
We are committed to p roviding th e high est quality training for future lead ers, edu cators, an d practition ers o f
cardiothoracic an esth esia. We offer a breadth of clinical experien ce in core cardi ac surg ery procedu res su ch as
CABG, valv e replacem ent surg ery, aortic su rgery an d heart an d lung trans plant. In addition, fello ws will get
ample exposu re to caring for p atients und ergoi ng hybrid p rocedu res (Atri cure, TAVR, Mitraclip, Lariat,
Wat chm an), el ectroph ysiology p rocedu res (p acem aker/IC D placem ent), and int erv ention al cardiolo gy
procedu res (t and em heart and ECM O placem ent, cath eter bas ed pulmonary thromb ectomy, and devi ce clo sure
of sept al defects). As p art o f a p rog ram o f gradu ated responsibility, teaching /su pervision of resid ents in cardiac
cases will be available in the second half of fellowship (January to June).
Cardiovascular intensive care unit rotation (1 month)
Fellows spen d a month in the cardiov ascul ar IC U und er the sup ervision o f cardiotho racic and criti cal care
anesth esiologists. Fellows will be respo nsible for th e com prehensive m an agem ent o f criti cally ill cardiov as cular
and thoracic patients.
Adult thoracic anesthesia rotation (1 month)
Fellows will get exposu re to a wid e v ariety of thoracic
surgery cas es (600 cases/y r.) including VATS,
thoracotomy, es oph agectomy, lung vol ume redu ction
surgery, lung transpl antatio n, airway reconst ru ction and
pectus rep air. Fellows can also choos e to spend time in the
bronchoscopy suite where we have a robust interventional
pulmonary practice (1,800 cases/yr.).
Pediatric cardiothoracic anesthesia rotation (1 month)
Fellows are the primary anesth esia provid er for pediat ric
cardiac su rgery p atients u nder the direct sup ervision of the
attending. Pediat ric cardiac areas include operating ro oms,
a catheterization lab, and an electrophysiology lab.
Cardiology elective (1 month)
Four weeks are spent in the subspecialty of
ech ocardio graphy un der the sup ervision o f adult
ech ocardio graphy cardiologists. Du ring the rotatio n,
fellows contin ue to d ev elop skills in p erform an ce and
interp ret ation of transth oraci c echocardiography. Th ey are
requi red to attend all cardiolog y conferen ces during that
month.
Elective rotation (1 month)
Typically, one of th e two el ectiv e months is a cardiology
rotation, but other clinical or res earch el ectiv es pert aining
to cardiot horaci c an esthesi a may b e substituted with
permission of the Program Director.
ACADEMIC ENRICHMENT
The fellowship
has several components that contributes to the academic enrichment of fellows:
Weekly Cardiothoracic Division Conference (CME)
Our CME accredited weekly con ference cov ers a wide sp ectrum of topics pertinent to the man ag ement of the
cardiothoracic pati ent. Lectures are given by cardiothoracic surg eons, interv ention al and heart failure
cardiologists, electrophysiolo gy speci alists, thoracic surg eons, interv ention al pulmonologist, as well as our
cardiothoracic anesth esiolog y faculty. Ev ery q uarter a gu est lecturer from an outsid e institution is invited to
give a talk in their area of ex pertise. In addition challen ging cas e presentations and jou rnal club are also h eld
during this con ference. This conferen ce h as been highly reg arded by p ast fellows as an integ ral p art of thei r
training.
Weekly Echo Conference (CME)
Led by Dr. Rob ert Deegan, director o f periop erative
ech ocardio graphy who has 20 years of echo cardio graphy
exp erience, fellows will get exposure to evaluation and
interp ret ation of both common and rare cardiac patholog y.
Approximat ely 150 cas es are reviewed annu ally during
this conference.
TEE Simulation
Cardiotho raci c fellows will receive image acquisition
training on o ur high fidelity Heart works TEE simul ators in
CELA an d our division office suite. The simulators
demonstrat e cardiac an atomy and the complex spatial
relatio nships involved in TEE imaging with impres sive
clarity. Exp eri ence with the TEE simulato r allows fellows
to rapidly mast er basi c imaging anatom y in order to
progress to more advanced aspects of the TEE exam.
Scholarly Activities
Fellows are enco uraged to attend and submit presentations
to local, regional, and nation al cardiothoracic meetin gs.
They are given a Continuing Medical Education (CM E)
budget to help d efray the exp enses o f a con ference. All
fellows will be ex pected to atten d the Society of
Cardiov as cular An esthesiolo gists Annu al meeting to
present their work.
Oral Board Preparation
Several memb ers of the department are oral board
examin ers. Fello ws will be eligible to p arti cipat e in the
dep artmental oral board prep aration pro gram, which
includes several mock oral examinations.
KEY FACULTY
Warren Sandberg, MD, PhD
Mias Pretorius, MBChB, MSCI
Professor and Chair
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Clinical Pharmacology
Interim Chief, Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology
Program Director, Cardiothoracic Anesthesia Fellowship
Andrew Shaw MB, FRCA, FFICM, FCCM
Bantayehu Sileshi, MD
Professor of Anesthesiology
Vice-Chair of Clinical Affairs
Executive Medical Director for Perioperative Services
Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology
Associate Program Director, Cardiothoracic Anesthesia Fellowship
Robert Deegan, MB, ChB, BAO, PhD, FFARCSI
Susan Eagle, MD
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Clinical Pharmacology
Director, Intraoperative Echocardiography
Medical Director II, OR Cardiac Services
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology
Director, Thoracic Anesthesiology
KEY FACULTY
Julian Bick, MD
Jeremy Bennett, MD
Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology
Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology
Director, Non OR Cardiac Anesthesiology
Antonio Hernandez, MD
Yafen Liang, MD
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology
Medical Director, CVICU
Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology
Josh Billings, MD, MSCI
Jason Kennedy, MD
Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology
Division of Critical Care Anesthesiology
Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology
Medical Director, Perfusion Services and ECMO
Jane Brock, DO
Amr Waly, MD
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology
Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology