Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine

Stanford University offers a 12-month ACGME-accredited fellowship in regional anesthesiology and acute pain medicine. The experience provides advanced postgraduate training in this subspecialty. Multiple nationally- and internationally-recognized faculty participate directly in fellowship training. Participating sites include the main university hospital on Stanford campus, a freestanding outpatient surgery center, and the nearby Veterans Affairs hospital.

Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine is a subspecialty of anesthesiology focused on the management of acute pain including, but not limited to, comprehensive perioperative management of patients receiving neuraxial or peripheral neural blockade for anesthesia and/or analgesia as well as the medical management of acutely painful conditions. Fellowship training is concerned with the development of expertise in the clinical practice and science of regional anesthesiology and acute pain medicine.

• Provide acute pain management for the full spectrum of surgeries, injuries, medical etiologies and other invasive procedures that produce acute pain in the hospital setting;
• Perform a comprehensive range of advanced regional anesthesia procedures for appropriate indications in a safe consistent and effective manner, understanding the risks and benefits and communicating them to patients;
• Act as a consultant to other anesthesiologists, surgeons, nurses, pharmacists, physical therapists, other medical professionals, operating room managers and hospital administrators;
• Provide leadership in the clinical practice of acute pain management and the organization of the acute pain service within the hospital setting with the requisite knowledge and skills to establish a new regional anesthesiology and acute pain medicine program in his or her future practice;
• Integrate emerging technologies and translate new knowledge to continuously improve the subspecialty; and
• Apply evidence-based methods to teach future subspecialists in regional anesthesiology and acute pain medicine.

Our program is ACGME-accredited so our curriculum follows the program requirements posted on the ACGME website. 

Fellows rotate between Stanford Healthcare and VA Palo Alto Health Care System including one free-standing outpatient surgery center. 

At the Stanford sites, fellows’ educational objectives in regional anesthesiology focus on mastering the techniques and management of basic and advanced regional anesthesia procedures, teaching residents on their regional anesthesia rotations, and coordinating the care of surgical patients who receive nerve block procedures through consultation with all members of the perioperative team.  The Stanford rotations also expose fellows to specialized experiences in pediatric regional anesthesiology as well as regional anesthesia for trauma patients.  Fellows rotating at the Stanford Outpatient Center learn to integrate regional anesthesia within the context of an efficient ambulatory surgery practice and to execute the combination of peripheral nerve blockade for postoperative pain management with optimal anesthesia care for patients having day surgery.

Fellows spend a minimum of 3 months rotating at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System to learn acute pain medicine.  The regional anesthesiology and acute pain medicine program at the VA is nested within a Perioperative Surgical Home model.  Fellows engage in co-management of orthopedic surgery and other patients with an emphasis on perioperative pain management, using interventional techniques, pharmacological and nonpharmacological methods, daily management of patients with perineural catheters on the hospital wards and at home, acute pain management consults for surgical and nonsurgical patients, and development of clinical pathways. 

Fellows have scheduled didactic and workshop teaching throughout the year, including cadaver lab.  Fellows are also given ample opportunity and encouragement to participate or lead quality improvement and research projects with dedicated time for these scholarly pursuits.  Previous fellows have presented their projects at national meetings such as the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA) and the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) annual meeting under the mentorship of Stanford faculty.  Many Stanford faculty members participate in medical missions so fellows may have the opportunity to participate in global surgery outreach depending on availability.