Obstetric Anesthesia Rotation
The resident rotation through obstetric anesthesiology is focused on both education and patient care. We strongly encourage residents to engage in clinical projects either by formulating and/or participating in clinical studies and/or the authoring of case reports and clinical reviews. During the 2004 academic year, our residents presented abstracts and posters dealing with obstetric anesthesia research at numerous meetings both national and international including the International Anesthesia Research Society, The American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, Socieity of Ambulatory Anesthesia and the Society of Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology annual meetings, as well as the World Congress of Anesthesiology meeting of the Obstetric Anesthetists Association of France. We hope to continue this tradition of resident involvement in research and in resident presentations at major anesthesia meetings. Our goal is to establish our department as a major source of national obstetric anesthesia clinical research and to maintain an average of three active research protocols at any given time.
The obstetric anesthesia faculty consists of individuals with diverse intellectual backgrounds but with a common commitment to optimal care of the pregnant patient. All are board certified anesthesiologists with extensive experience in obstetric anesthesia and a genuine commitment to resident education. Dr. Philip Balestrieri is chief of service. Prior to coming to our department he was director of obstetric anesthesia at Georgetown University Medical Center. Among his many current interests are the combined spinal-epidural technique, levobupivacaine for labor analgesia and controversies in the management of severe preeclampsia. Cosmo DiFazio, M.D., Ph.D. (Outstanding Anesthesiology Teacher Award, 1989), is a world-recognized authority in local anesthetic and opiate pharmacology, now Professor Emeritus. In addition to Dr. Balestrieri, a number of other staff with a major interest in obstetric anesthesia participate in supervision and teaching. These include Mohamed Tiouririne, M.D., and Paul Ting, M.D. (distinguished teacher award 2003; regional and ambulatory interests).
It is the goal of the obstetric anesthesiology program to train the resident to become an outstanding clinician, one who can and will provide excellent anesthesia care to the pregnant patients he/she encounters in clinical practice. This requires the development of sound clinical judgment as well as a high level of knowledge and technical skill in a wide variety of clinical settings. It also requires the development and perfection of the interpersonal skills necessary for the smooth functioning of the multidisciplinary obstetric anesthesia team.
In 2003, an obstetric anesthesia rotation was established at Fairfax Hospital in Northern Virginia. Fairfax's obstetric service does nearly 10,500 deliveries a year (one of the busiest in the country) and has a staff of four attending anesthesiologists with fellowship training in obstetric anesthesia. As the anesthesiology group is private practice, it allows the resident to see another practice style as well as gain valuable technical experience in a very busy obstetric service.