Frequently asked questions about this Department's residency program
Answers provided by Roger L. Royster, M.D., Vice Chairman.
How does the Nurse Anesthesia Program at Wake Forest University School of Medicine affect the Department of Anesthesiology’s residency program?
The Nurse Anesthesia Program at this Medical Center is positive for the anesthesiology residency program. The anesthesia care team, which involves an attending anesthesiologist supervising a nurse, provides the majority of anesthesia health care in this country. Our residents will be more prepared for this interaction because of the experience they have with the Nurse Anesthesia Program.
Another benefit of nurse anesthesia in a residency training program is the availability of nurses to relieve residents at the end of the day, so that residents can do their preoperative assessments, get home at a reasonable hour, have dinner with their family, exercise and then have time at night to read. I think it is very important that our residents always set aside an hour every evening to read on some topic related to a case they are doing or in other areas in which they are weak. Also, without nurse anesthetists, we wouldn’t be able to arrange as often for our residents to attend departmental and national anesthesiology conferences, as we presently do.
Our nurse anesthesia students work at hospitals other than Baptist Hospital. Consequently, there is minimal competition for cases. We closely track the number of different types of cases performed by the residents. They do more cases than the national average for anesthesia residents after 3 years. Therefore, the Nurse Anesthesia Program offers definite assets to residents without compromising their clinical experience.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of this residency program?
I really don’t think there is any major weakness in our program. We have a good overall balance in our anesthesia education for the residents. Obstetrics, critical care, and pain—three clinical rotations that are often weak elsewhere—are all very strong here. All the traditional anesthesia rotations—general operating room, cardiac, neuro, ambulatory—are very good. Thus, one of the major strengths of our program is that the residents get a very good, balanced experience in anesthesia.
What are the research opportunities for residents?
For residents who have an interest in research, we offer the opportunity to do research work in almost any area. We have a good overall balance in both bench and clinical research opportunities. We have ongoing research in almost all the different areas of anesthesia—such as pain, critical care, cardiac, and obstetrics. In the past we have had several of our residents win research awards at the national level. We have had a series of residents who have been selected to do pediatric anesthesia fellowships at Boston Children’s Hospital. A former resident of our program was elected chief resident of the fellows at Boston Children’s. One year we had 2 fellows go to the University of California at San Francisco as faculty. Thus, we have a good chance of placing residents who do fellowships in academic programs around the country.
What are the job opportunities for residents coming out of this program?
Our residents, even when jobs have been relatively scarce for anesthesiologists, haven’t had any problems finding positions. We have a good placement network with our former residents, a number of whom are in group practices, mainly around the Southeast, which continue to look at our program for practicing physicians. For example, a group practice in Orlando, Florida, has 7 or 8 of our former residents. We supply names, addresses, and telephone numbers of our former residents for our present residents to contact concerning job opportunities. Also, we have heard from our former residents that our reputation for training outstanding residents helped them obtain jobs in California, Washington, Texas, and other areas outside the southeastern U.S.
How do residents do on Board exams?
Historically, our residents have done extremely well on the written and oral Board exams. On the written Board exams, our residents have excelled. Over the last 16 years, our residents as a group have averaged at or above the 90th percentile nationally. On the oral Board exams, our residents have performed very well, also, with almost every resident passing the oral Boards, on his or her first attempt.
Our practice oral Board exams definitely help our residents. When our residents take the practice Boards, they receive helpful feedback about the way they perform from one of a dozen real oral board examiners in our department. Our Wednesday morning case conferences are designed to allow the residents to study cases and to verbalize their thoughts to faculty and other residents. I think that format helps them with the oral Board process.
What are some qualities of this program that would set it aside from another program?
First is the atmosphere which stresses the importance of resident education. An academic type of atmosphere really comes first here, with emphasis on teaching and learning. Secondly, I think the quality of the individuals - residents and faculty - is outstanding. The faculty represent a very close-knit group of people who all are dedicated to teaching residents in a way in which they will want to learn. And finally, we really have a type of family atmosphere that I think is hard to achieve. We really care about the individual resident, not only about how he or she is performing academically, but about the resident as a person. If a resident has personal problems, then we’re here to try to help him or her in any way that we possibly can. Female residents get maternity leave, and male residents get a week of paternity leave. Also, we have a lot of social gatherings, which contribute to friendships among faculty, residents and staff. We have a welcoming party usually in the summer months after the oral board exams. We have a fall picnic, a Christmas party, a senior party at the end of the year for the residents, and a Resident Retreat to educate residents about the business and legal aspects of medicine and about signing a contract for a job.
What is the quality of life in Winston-Salem?
Winston-Salem offers many of the cultural attractions of a big city, while also having attractive, safe and friendly neighborhoods within close proximity to the Medical Center. This is a city with many varied activities, mainly because it has a good deal of big business for its size (170,000 population), with Sara Lee Corporation, U.S. Airways, the new Wachovia Bank (one of the largest U.S. banks), BB&T (30th largest U.S. bank), Pepsi Cola, AMP, Westinghouse, and Reynolds Tobacco Company. As a result we have many of the amenities associated with a big business community—recreation, many good restaurants, and so on. Those big corporations support many cultural activities, like concerts at the Coliseum, Performing Arts at the Stevens Center, and other Arts Council events sponsored by the North Carolina School of the Arts. Winston-Salem, historically, has been a big supporter of the arts and was the first city in the nation to form an Arts Council. It’s also a university town, with Wake Forest University, Salem College, Winston-Salem State, and the North Carolina School of the Arts which offer many interesting activities. There are many sports events, such as minor league baseball and ACC basketball and football. Golfing is big in North Carolina, and especially in the Winston-Salem area. Wake Forest has a strong collegiate golf program, and there are many excellent golf courses in the area.
In summary, Winston-Salem’s a very livable city with many of the attractions of a larger urban area. People accustomed to big cities will not feel they have lost much in coming to a smaller town. Yet for the person who has always lived in rural areas, I think Winston’s a very easy city to get to know. And you can quickly be out in the country in 5-10 minutes. The town has many advantages as far as geography: it is within an hour of the Blue Ridge Mountains and only 4 hours from the beach.
Having a surrounding area as attractive as Winston-Salem is a plus, but the environment of greatest importance for residents is the Medical Center where they spend most of their time. I believe our institution offers an attractive work place; a number of buildings have recently been constructed, and many of the older buildings have had interior renovations, so the whole institution looks quite new. All in all, the Medical Center provides a pleasant, efficiently planned setting in which to work.