Anesthesiology Residency

Our program spans up to four years, beginning with a broad medical foundation and progressing to advanced anesthesia training and individualized subspecialty experience.

We accept residents into both the PGY-1 fundamental clinical skills year (Categorical) and directly into the CA-1 anesthesia year.

Residents spend most of their CA-1 year at BMC Brighton mastering the fundamentals of clinical anesthesiology. In the CA-2 year, they rotate to affiliated hospitals across eastern Massachusetts for specialized experiences. The CA-3 year offers flexibility and electives that align with personal goals and fellowship interests.

Our residency also offers a comprehensive didactic lecture series and opportunities to conduct and present research.

Affiliated Hospitals

• Boston Children’s Hospital—Pediatric anesthesia
• Massachusetts Eye and Ear—ENT and ophthalmologic anesthesia
• Massachusetts General Hospital and Merrimack Health Methuen Hospital (previously Holy Family Hospital)—Neuroanesthesia
• Beth Israel Lahey Hospital and Medical Center—Critical care, thoracic anesthesia, and liver transplantation

Learn More about the Rotations We Offer

Fundamental Clinical Skills Year

PGY-1 year interns rotate to BMC Brighton. The year is structured as a transitional internship and focuses on the basics of acquiring histories and physical exams.

Rotations include internal medicine, surgery, emergency department, intensive care units, cardiology, pulmonology, and anesthesiology.

Those wishing to do this internship should apply to the Categorical program.

CA-1s spend July and August assigned 1:1 in operating rooms with either a senior resident or attending anesthesiologist. In July, they participate in the “CA-1 bootcamp,” during which they are relieved of clinical duties in order to attend didactics on the basics of anesthesia.

Residents are taught to complete comprehensive histories and physical examinations in ambulatory surgical and inpatient settings, as well as in the pre-anesthesia testing (PAT) clinic, so that they can develop the rational thinking and problem identification skills required to provide for a safe and comfortable anesthetic.

Residents also become acquainted with obstetric anesthesia early in their training, supervised by general and obstetric anesthesiologists, to gain insight into the anesthetic management of peripartum and postpartum patients.

Our program is unique in that almost all residents rotate through cardiac anesthesia in their first year, giving them early exposure to complex patients, as well as experience with insertion and interpretation of invasive monitors (arterial, pulmonary arterial catheters, and transesophageal echocardiography).

In the second year of training, residents are given increasing responsibility and independence as well as more challenging cases.

Our second-year residents are assigned to care for patients having major vascular and thoracic surgeries and receive at least two months of critical care training.

CA-2 residents also rotate to affiliated hospitals, including Boston Children’s Hospital for pediatric anesthesia and Beth Israel Lahey Hospital for supplementation in advanced cases.

Finally, second-year residents spend two months in the Center for Pain Management, with one month focused on patients with acute pain syndromes and one focused on the care of patients with chronic pain.

Third-year residents spend one month caring for post-anesthetic patients in the pediatric acute care unit (PACU), intensive care unit (ICU), and day surgery units.

In addition, third-year residents spend one month on a dedicated regional anesthesia team and serve as the block resident.

They also rotate for one month at Massachusetts General Hospital, for additional cardiac anesthesia experience, and one month at Massachusetts Eye and Ear, for advanced airway exposure.

The remainder of this year allows residents to specialize in specific skills and interests. Many are provided with extra months of pediatric, critical care, cardiothoracic, chronic pain, and regional anesthesia training if requested. Opportunities for research electives and quality improvement initiatives are also available.

By the completion of the third year, our graduates are uniformly competent anesthesiologists capable of pursuing either academic or community-based practices.

Didactics schedule for September 2025 (presented as an example)

Lectures

Our didactic curriculum consists of lectures focused on board exams and ITE as well as on the general practice of anesthesia.

Each month, a specialty topic is selected to be the basis for the lectures and boards review sessions. Topics include, but are not limited to:

• Thoracic anesthesia
• Obstetric anesthesia
• Vascular and cardiac anesthesia
• ICU care

Lectures occur during the protected time between 6:30 and 7 a.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.

Weekly Schedule

Didactics schedule for October 2025 (presented as an example)

Resident-led keyword sessions, on Tuesdays, focus on high-yield topics that are commonly tested on exams.

Boards review sessions, on Wednesdays, are done jointly with trainees from BMC main campus, with the goal of reviewing multiple-choice questions.

On Thursday mornings, attending physicians lead lectures on topics that are pertinent to the practice of anesthesia.

Friday mornings are our grand round sessions, which feature visiting presenters, senior grand round presentations, ultrasound and regional anesthesia workshops, and mock oral boards sessions.