Anesthesiology Residency

The MetroHealth Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Management offers a four-year categorical and three-year advanced anesthesiology residency training program. Residents rotate through a variety of areas including surgical anesthesia, chronic pain management and critical care. Learn more about our curriculum.

 We are a teaching hospital of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and our faculty members hold academic appointments at Case Western Reserve University. Our Medical Center is a Level I Trauma Center which adds a high degree of complexity in patient management.

As a Level I Trauma Center we see patients of all acuities, giving residents the opportunity to participate in cases with patients who are unstable and critically ill. The knowledge gained from these cases is invaluable. Busy general surgical and surgical specialties (such as vascular, orthopedics, urology, otolaryngology, cardiothoracic, pediatrics, neurosurgical, gynecology, plastics) also provide extensive teaching material for our residency.

In addition to extensive experience in surgical anesthesia, we offer significant exposure in subspecialty areas. Highlights include:

• A well-established Acute Pain Service that performs a wide variety of blocks under ultrasound. 
• Our Chronic Pain Service takes care of a high volume of patients with interventions which can include medical management, nerve blocks, spinal cord stimulators, and more. 
• High-risk obstetrical anesthesia offers the resident exposure to complex obstetric patients. 
• Transesophogeal echocardiography is extensively utilized for cardiac anesthesia. 
• Our large Surgical Intensive Care Unit treats critically ill patients with a wide range of diseases and traumatic injuries.

Find out more about what makes our program unique from our Chief Residents and Program Director.

Friendly Work Environment and Commitment to Education

Our residency program has an educational focus, and our resident class averages seven individuals per year. This size allows for faculty and residents to get to know one another. Our faculty focuses special attention on the needs of our residents. Recent graduates have secured fellowships in Pain Management, Cardiothoracic Anesthesia, Regional Anesthesia, Critical Care, and Pediatric Anesthesia. Others have directly pursued careers in academic and private practice.

Our Approach to Diversity in Trainees  

MetroHealth hospital is devoted to promoting and recruiting diverse residents, fellows, and faculty members to improve patient care. We are inspired to eliminate barriers to care, which is critical to our mission to deliver culturally compassionate care that respects each individual. We feel that having a diverse workforce that reflects the diversity of our community will only serve to improve patient and caregiver relationships.  

Please learn more about Racial Equity at MetroHealth. 

This is what some of our alumni have to say about our program:

“As I reflect upon my Metrohealth Anesthesiology training, it cultivated the vital qualities needed to succeed in fellowship and beyond. Upon graduation the entire class had the knowledge and confidence to successfully treat patients and integrate procedures, pharmacological and technology knowledge, and make critical decisions in advanced situations.

The program also offered leadership opportunities and providing me with excellent leadership, diplomacy, organizational and time management skills that I will transfer to any position. The attendings gave support and direction needed to succeed in the clinic arena and went out of their way to assist with oral and written board preparation. They truly wanted success for the residents.

Overall Metrohealth provided competitive education and was the most rewarding experience in my medical training.”

-Konstantinos Alfaras, MD

“I believe the training and clinical experience I received at MetroHealth was outstanding. Not only did it help prepare me for the fellowship, but also facilitated my performance in the written boards. The independence we get during our training is the program's greatest strength. This gives us the confidence to make decisions and develop leadership skills. This goes a long way to prepare us as confident attendings or fellows when we step out in the world."

 –Varun Dixit, MD

“As I look back at the time spent at MetroHealth Medical Center, I realize that it has trained me to handle virtually any challenging case that I will encounter as an anesthesiologist. The extensive hands-on experience provides the skills necessary to deliver safe and effective anesthesia, as well as giving one confidence in one's abilities.”

–Daniel Meenan, MD