Anesthesia Residency Training Guide

Resources and high-yield tips for each year of anesthesiology residency

Work in progress!
Intern Year: Foundations of Clinical Medicine
  • Focus on medical management: fluids, sepsis, pressors, EKGs
  • Skill work: ultrasound IV, line placement
  • Resources: UWorld Step 3, Pocket Medicine, UpToDate
  • Build habits: effective sign-outs, daily learning goals, EMR efficiency
  • Pro tip: Keep a shared intern survival guide with your class (tips, order sets, call hacks)
  • Recommended text reference: "Stoelting's Anesthesia and Co-existing Disease" look up comorbidities you're treating, casually read the anesthetic implications
CA-1: Starting Clinical Anesthesia
  • Master the basics: ASA monitors, machine check, induction & emergence workflows
  • Resources: Stanford CA-1 PDF, Stanford Emergency Manual
  • Pro tip: Be kind to everyone (yourself included)
  • Pick a text that works for you: Morgan & Mikhail, Baby Miller --(check with your peers/program!)
    • After your first ITE, use Faust or OpenAnesthesia to target keywords
  • Surgery ref: Jaffe
  • Practice case presentations, review and predict potential intra-op crises
  • On your first month:
CA-2: Intermediate Training & Subspecialties
  • Build confidence: CV, neuro, peds, OB, regional
  • Resources: Hall Q&A, M&M chapters on subspecialty topics, OpenAnesthesia summaries
  • Focus: invasive lines, complex airways, TEE basics, anesthetic planning
  • Pro tip: Keep a running list of "what worked well" vs. "what I'd do differently" after cases
  • Supplement with: review articles, ASA standards, society guidelines
CA-3: Senior Autonomy & Boards Prep
  • Hone leadership in the OR and prepare for independent practice
  • Resources: Board review books (Hall, Faust), oral board stem practice
  • Focus: teaching juniors, periop management (outside OR), hone clinical judgement
  • Pro tip (late CA-3): Start a shared doc with oral board stems and review weekly with peers
  • Mock oral resources: Anesthesia Oral Board Review found here!
Fellowship / Transition to Practice
  • Negotiate your first job: understand contracts, billing, and practice models
  • Resources: ASA early-career resources, finance podcasts (White Coat Investor), transition guides
  • Focus: subspecialty mastery, longitudinal cases, billing documentation
  • Pro tip: Build a library of consent templates, Epic SmartPhrases, and patient teaching materials