Director of Undergraduate Education
Anesthesia is a mandatory 2 week core rotation that all third year medical students complete as part of their surgery block at Western. Six students are on Anesthesia at any one time in the city. In the past, 2 students would each be assigned to 1 of the 3 teaching hospitals in London. This past year, we have increased the flexibility, so that the students spend time at more than one hospital. This allows the students a better exposure to the wide variety of anesthetics delivered across the city.
Students spend each day of their rotation assigned to a staff supervisor, where they receive one-on-one teaching.
This past year, we have also been linking each student to 2 staff members for their rotation. This has greatly improved the continuity of teaching that the students receive.
An updated medical student handbook was purchased for our department this year. Each medical student rotating through is given this book and encouraged to read it during their rotation.
Another welcome addition to the Anesthesia rotation is Anesthesia Bootcamp in the simulator. Each group of students gets to spend the first day of their 2 week rotation in the simulator with a simulation fellow, and/or staff anesthetist. They learn some basic skills and knowledge, so that when they come to the operating room, they feel more comfortable. Some of the things that they are taught include preoperative assessments, the anesthesia machine and monitoring, airway management, and drug administration. They then have the opportunity to run through some case-based scenarios. The students evaluate this very highly, and state that it eases the transition into the operating room.
We also have a significant number of Western and visiting elective students from Canada and abroad that rotate through the Anesthesia program. They are given the opportunity to meet with the program director to discuss the program at Western during their rotation.
