Medical Student Rotation

The MS III and MSIV rotations introduce medical students to the art and science of anesthesiology. Our goal is to provide medical students with proficiency in clinical skills, while introducing them to the field of anesthesiology in general. Although most of the medical students who rotate through the department will not become anesthesiologists, they will gain an understanding of the profession that will enhance their own professional career.

By the end of an anesthesiology rotation, the medical student will feel comfortable both ventilating and intubating the average patient, be familiar with drugs commonly utilized in anesthesia and be able to perform an adequate preoperative evaluation of patients, recognizing certain medical conditions that may cause difficulties for the anesthesiologist. They should also gain a general idea of what the anesthesiology specialty is all about. For the medical student considering specializing in anesthesia, participating in this rotation will make your decision more informed as to how an anesthesiologist can best serve as a consultant to other specialists.

Rotating medical students often stay with us (or come back to us) to work on projects. For the last decade, the department has sponsored medical students to attend the national American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) meeting to present original medical student research conducted under the mentorship of our anesthesiology faculty.

The medical students’ patient care responsibilities will extend to at least 3 p.m. every weekday.

Rotation Schedule

MSIII Rotation at Keck Hospital of USC

Students will primarily spend the rotation at the Keck Hospital. On most days, each medical student will be assigned to work with one resident on a daily basis. The medical student will be reporting to that resident at 6:30 a.m. and will be expected to follow him/her until 2:45 p.m. The student will also spend one day in preoperative clinic, one day in recovery room, one day following the pain management team and one day in the USC Outpatient Surgery Center.

Medical students will have lectures/discussions at 10 a.m., twice a week.

On Friday mornings at 6:30 a.m., medical students will attend the Anesthesiology Grand Rounds at McKibben Hall (MCH), Room 256, on the second floor.

The maximum number of days allowed for absence is one day per a three-week rotation.

Evaluation for MSIII Rotation

Students will be evaluated by the attendings at the end of rotation. The evaluations will be based on:
- Perioperative participation in the case, skills developed and knowledge acquisition
- Demonstration of fundamental understanding of basic intraoperative anesthetic management
- Overall professionalism
- Attendance of twice weekly lectures for MSIII at 10 a.m., in the Recovery Room
Medical students may miss one day during the rotation. If a student misses 2-3 days, then 1-2 of them must be made up in the afternoon, from 3-8 p.m. If a student misses 4 days or more, the rotation is cancelled and credit is not given.

Contact

Director for MSIII rotation:
Eugenia Ayrian, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology
Keck School of Medicine of USC

Contact person for MSIII rotation:
Caroline Caldwell
Department of Anesthesiology
(323) 865-1084

MSIV Rotation at Los Angeles General Medical Center

Students will primarily spend the MSIV rotation at Los Angeles General Medical Center, becoming familiar with the basics. Students are encouraged to explore other areas of our department, such as cardiac anesthesia and obstetric anesthesia (arrange through the rotation coordinator). Our day starts in Conference Room B, InPatient Tower (IPT) at 6:15 a.m, Monday to Thursday, with a mandatory 30-minute educational conference. On Fridays, there is a two-hour lecture in McKibben Hall (MCH),Room #256, which starts at 6:30 a.m.

On most days, the medical student will be assigned to a particular resident. The student should start his/her day in that room, but is free to go into other rooms to increase exposure to different procedures or to get a feel for the variety of our specialty.

The medical student is expected to stay until at least 3 p.m. every weekday. If the student is involved in an interesting learning case, he/she is encouraged to stay a little longer to see the case through to its end or to the next step.

The maximum number of days allowed for absence is two days per a four-week rotation.

Evaluation for MSIV rotation

Medical students will be issued an anesthesia log procedure record that should be completed every day. Include cases participated in and procedures that were performed. The staff or resident should sign the log sheet for that particular procedure. These will be turned in at the completion of the rotation. These will be used in evaluating the quality of the educational experience.

A pretest will be given at the beginning of the rotation. It is designed to orient the medical student to some aspects of our thought processes. The pretest can be used to initiate discussions with faculty and resident instructors.

At the end of the rotation, an exit interview with the rotation coordinator will include a short oral examination. Students may use the pretest as a general outline of the types of topics that will be covered. Basically, this interview will be about how the medical student has used the rotation. This examination should not be a source of anxiety. We are anesthesia education professionals, and if the student has used their time well, we will know it.

Contact

Director for MSIV rotation:
Mary M. Joseph, MD
Professor of Clinical Anesthesiology
Keck School of Medicine of USC

Contact person for MSIV rotation:
Caroline Caldwell
Department of Anesthesiology
(323) 865-1084

Get the required paperwork from:
Estella Turla (USC Medical Students):
(323) 442-2418

Visiting Medical Students are to apply via the Keck School of Medicine Student Affairs Department, Visiting Student Clerkships: https://keck.usc.edu/education/md-program/student-affairs/visiting-student-clerkships/