The Department of Anesthesiology

Regional Anesthesia and Acute Pain Medicine Fellowship

Overview

The one-year non ACGME accredited Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine Fellowship offers an outstanding experience that includes patient management and teaching of residents. The program supports two fellows per year and can be tailored to meet the fellows' educational goals.

Program Goals

Over the course of the 12-month fellowship, the fellow will enhance his or her skills to safely and effectively administer and teach regional anesthesia as a consultant in anesthesiology. The fellow will be responsible for:

• Patient selection and technique application

• Safe, effective and cost-prudent patient care

• Enhanced patient recovery

• Management of the Acute Pain Service

The fellow will be expected to develop the skills needed to establish a regional anesthesia and acute pain management practice as a primary component of his or her future practice in anesthesiology.

Upon completion of the program, the fellow will be able to demonstrate patient care techniques and approaches including:

• Spinal anesthesia

• Epidural anesthesia

• Nerve localization techniques

• Upper extremity nerve block

• Lower extremity nerve block

• Truncal blockade

• Neuraxial opioids

• Systemic opioids

• Non-opioid analgesics

Curriculum

Fellows gain experience in a wide range of skills associated with regional anesthesiology, utilizing state of the art ultrasound guided techniques to perform single shot and catheter blocks. Our inpatient pain service provides care for patients across the entire hospital and offers multimodal management which includes ketamine and lidocaine infusions. We prepare trainees to evaluate pertinent literature, develop and conduct original research projects, and present their work at academic meetings.

Each fellow will personally perform and supervise residents in more than 1,000 blocks during the fellowship year, including upper/lower extremity blocks, peripheral nerve catheters and truncal blocks. They have ample opportunities to become educators through point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS), including attending an ASRA POCUS course.

Fifty percent of fellow time is spent in a clinical instructor role, doing a mix of general operating room cases. This allows the fellow to maintain their clinical anesthesiology skills, as well as make supplemental income. Each fellow receives professional funds for conferences and additional academic endeavors.

Program Leadership

Fellowship Program Director: Hannah Vega, MD, Assistant Professor
Fellowship Faculty: Keith May, MD, Assistant Professor, Director of Regional Anesthesia Rotation
Fellowship Faculty: Adam Roth, MD, Assistant Professor

Application Process

All applications to the  Regional Anesthesia and Acute Pain Medicine Fellowship Program must be submitted directly to the University of Tennessee Department of Anesthesia. This program uses the Common Application which can be found by finding our program on the fellowship directory on ASRA's website. 

Interviews are conducted on a rolling basis until both positions are filled.

Contact Information

Gwen Schwartz, EdD, Pain Medicine Fellowship Program Coordinator, 865-305-5479
PJ Hoskins, M.Ed, Education Program Manager