TRAINEE ENGAGEMENT COMMITTEE

Neuroanesthesiology Classroom: A SNACC-based Resource for Neuroanesthesia-rotation During Residency

Shobana Rajan, MD
Chair, Trainee Engagement Committee

Alexander Papangelou, MD
Trainee Engagement Committee Member

Shobana Rajan, MD

Alexander Papangelou, MD

All neuroanesthesiology residents’ experiences vary widely across institutions. There is no consensus regarding curriculum content and timing of exposure during training. Residents usually have basic and advanced rotations in the CA-1 (1st year Clinical Anesthesia residency in US) and the CA-2 (2nd year Clinical Anesthesia) years, and they could potentially opt for an elective rotation during the CA-3 (3rd year Clinical Anesthesia).

Trainees are often overwhelmed with both the clinical aspects of the training as well as the educational components. They need some guidance regarding weekly reading topics and with finding high-yield sources of reading. Often, a textbook cannot capture shifts in practice, evolving care during a pandemic, or the release of landmark results.

One of SNACC's primary missions is to produce and distribute educational content for the benefit of resident education and development.  These resources are vast and draw upon the expertise of members of the Education Committee.  The content can be found in the form of quizzes, PBLDs, Expert Audio Corners, Interactive Clinical Cases, and others.

The Neuroanesthesia Classroom was an effort by members of the Trainee Engagement Committee led by Dr. Alexander Papangelou to put together these resources into a weekly curriculum structure. Interested committee members identified key topics in neuroanesthesiology and concentrated available SNACC resources on these topics in one location. The topics have been divided into basic and advanced month-long rotations. These resources are not meant to represent a full residency curriculum per se but rather to guide and supplement training exposure and institutional expertise. 

On the new SNACC website, this information can be found under the tab labeled Education and Trainees and then under Education Corner to Neuroanesthesia Classroom.

While the CA-1 rotation is ready to go after a second iteration, the advanced rotation curriculum is under development. The core members for classroom 1 were Drs. Kamilla Es, Lauren Buhl, Lauren Dunn, Shobana Rajan, and Alex Papangelou. The core members for classroom 2 consist of Drs. Suneeta Gollapudy, Verghese Cherian, Sonal Sharma, Shilpa Rao, Priya Gupta, Tumul Chowdhary, Eman Nada, Keshav Goyal, and Eugenia Ayrian. Many members have already gone above and beyond expectations with their contributions to Neuroanesthesia Classroom 1. We look forward to this task force accelerating and augmenting this effort. 

We thank Drs. Jane Easdown, Letha Mathews, Hemanshu Prabhakar, and Laurel Moore for the mentorship and guidance for this project. We also thank Dr. Arney Abcejo for help with editing and posting the activities on the SNACC website.

One of the inspirational qualities of this Society is the willingness to teach and facilitate learning. Rotation directors and faculty can use this as a guide for teaching during the rotation, while residents can use this as a guide to fulfill their educational requirements during the process.  We would invite faculty, trainees, division, and residency directors to review and utilize this resource.  As always, we welcome your input and involvement.