The Neuroanesthesia Fellowship is a one-year ICPNT-accredited fellowship program designed to prepare graduates to become highly skilled leaders in neuroanesthesia and neurocritical care. We offer a variety of opportunities for those interested in an advanced experience in neuroanesthesia, neurocritical care, and neuroscience research. Time spent in this fellowship is divided between clinical work and clinical research. We provide a core experience in the care of the adult neurosurgical patient and, depending on individual fellow's goals, can provide variable amounts of elective experience in pediatric neuroanesthesia, anesthesia for interventional neuroradiology, neuromonitoring and neurointensive care.
Our case range is extensive and includes patients undergoing open craniotomies for intracranial aneurysms, craniotomies for tumor resection, stereotactic EEG electrode placement for epilepsy patients, ventriculoperitoneal shunts, extracranial to intracranial bypasses, carotid endarterectomies and surgeries on the spinal cord and column. Presently we perform about 1-3 awake craniotomies per week. The Penn Stroke Center is a JCAHO-certified Comprehensive Stroke Center, so we also see a high volume of stroke patients and work alongside a great team of neurologists, neurosurgeons and neuroradiologists to care for these patients. Our team of neuroanesthesiologists provides anesthesia care for an average of 60 to 80 neurosurgical and neurointerventional cases each week.
The Neuroanesthesia department at Penn has a close working relationship with our highly experienced clinical neurophysiologists, and portions of the fellowship can be spent on the neurophysiological monitoring service gaining experience in intraoperative electroencephalographic monitoring and somatosensory and motor evoked potential monitoring.
We also maintain a footprint in the neurocritical care unit, which improves the continuum of acute care for these patients, fosters collaborative clinical research projects, and provides an additional opportunity for fellows to augment their clinical experience. The Neuroanesthesia fellowship can be integrated into a two-year neuro-ICU fellowship, offering additional certification in Neurocritical care.
Pediatric anesthesiologists at the world-renowned Children's Hospital of Philadelphia are members of the Penn anesthesia department. They take care of children with the full spectrum of pediatric neurosurgical problems. Rotations in pediatric neuroanesthesia can be arranged to be a component of the fellowship.
One important way to consolidate one's knowledge is to teach it. Accordingly, fellows tend to work with second- and third-year anesthesia residents and have progressively increasing case supervision (and teaching) responsibility as their experience grows. Fellows also play a significant role in our didactic program and have guided experience in lecture preparation and delivery.
A key feature of our training program is ensuring that all of our trainees have time for clinical or laboratory research. Our department is unusual in the extent of externally supported funding supporting research activities of clinically active anesthesiologists. A summary of this work can be found in the research training section. Notably, we offer the option to participate in our NIH training grant program. Most of our fellows have had at least one publication as a result of their research activities, and many have had more than one.
The Penn neuroanesthesia program has a many-decade tradition of excellence in clinical care, education and research. Our past trainees hold positions at major medical centers including the University of Pennsylvania Health System, the Johns Hopkins Medical Center and the University of Washington Medical Center. Two of our former trainees head Divisions of Neuroanesthesia at major medical centers. Some have gone into private practice and have leadership positions in their practice.
Eligibility Requirements
Prospective fellows should have completed an anesthesia residency accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.
For further information, please contact:
Adekemi N. Akano, MD
Director, Neuroscience in Anesthesiology and Critical Care Program
Assistant Professor, Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care
University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine
Email: Adekemi.Akano@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
To request applications, please contact:
Melissa Kulynych
Melissa.Kulynych@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Manager, Medical Education
Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care
University of Pennsylvania Health System
3400 Spruce Street, 5 Dulles, Dripps Library
Philadelphia, PA 19104-4283