Medical College of Wisconsin Anesthesiology Residency

Educational support

Residents receive $2,000 ($500 from the Department and $1,500 from Medical College of Wisconsin Affiliated Hospitals, included in the stipend) per year for educational purposes. The Department funds are for license fees, dues, PDA, etc. The Department provides additional funds of up to $1,500 per year to cover registration, travel, lodging, and meals to residents presenting at meetings and conferences. 

Residents also have access to the STAR Center, a state-of-the-art simulation center; a vast collection of medical information (e-textbooks, PubMed with many journal subscriptions, UptoDate, etc) via MCW Libraries; and Anesthesia Toolbox, New Innovations and D2L accounts that provide additional learning opportunities such as lectures, quizzes, keyword reviews, and practice management guidelines. For In-Training Exam and American Board of Anesthesiology exam preparation, the Department funds residents’ subscriptions to TrueLearn question banks each year.

Our Department is also proud to include an educational specialist, Jessica De Santis, PhD, as part of our faculty and residency leadership team. She provides educational expertise and study plan/test preparation support for our residents throughout residency, as well as providing significant contributions to faculty development, Diversity Equity & Inclusion initiatives, community outreach, and professional development.

Research opportunities

For those who are interested in extensive clinical and research training, we are one of only 16 Anesthesiology residency programs in the U.S. to hold a NIH/NIGMS T32 funding mechanism to support mentored-research during clinical training. In addition to the NIH T32, in collaboration with the Departments of Medicine, Surgery, and Pediatrics, we offer appointments on a NIH/NHLBI R38 grant to allow for career development as a clinician-investigator.

The STAT Program (Specialized Training in Anesthesiology Team Science) is an extensive program for those with a strong research background. Briefly, it is a 4-year track of clinical anesthesiology training followed by a year as a faculty instructor with protected research time. During the four years of residency training, the resident receives a total of 11 blocks of research time, the maximum allowable per the ABA. Following residency, the resident is hired as a faculty instructor with 80 percent protected research time. For trainees with limited research experience and have research interests that align with the priorities of the NHLBI, a R38 appointment is possible, which allows for up to 18 months of protected time. Interested applicants should apply to MCW’s Categorical Research Track (NRMP Program code 1784040C2). 

Other opportunities also exist for residents to participate in scholarly activities which may include contributing to case reports or retrospective reviews. These endeavors can occur during the intern year or during the three years of residency training. Other scholarly opportunities include significant support of resident attendance at national conferences and the opportunity to take a 2-week research elective to work on smaller research projects. The Department provides up to $1,500 per year (2024) in addition to other educational funds to reimburse travel and registration costs for a resident who is presenting at a national meeting. Additionally, all residents are given the opportunity to attend the Midwest Anesthesia Residents Conference, at which many of our residents win awards. Our Department funds attendance of this meeting separate from other education funds, and MCW’s residents and medical students have historically had excellent representation at this meeting.

Moonlighting

Our residents can internally moonlight in Obstetric Anesthesia at the Froedtert Birth Center or in the Cardiovascular ICU (CVICU) at Froedtert, as long as they have successfully completed the respective rotation previously, meet academic performance criteria including ITE score > 50th percentile (CA1) or > 20th percentile (CA2-3), and meet the administrative requirements for moonlighting below.

All residents who meet the administrative requirements below (regardless of academic performance) are eligible for After-5 Pay when working after 5 p.m. and not on call in the Froedtert ORs.

To receive moonlighting pay, administrative requirements dictate that residents must have their full unrestricted Wisconsin medical license, and moonlighting cannot cause a work-hour violation under the ACGME guidelines. Residents in Anesthesiology have opportunities to sign up for FBC & CVICU shifts each block and are paid by Medical College of Wisconsin Affiliated Hospitals for these shifts. External moonlighting and moonlighting by housestaff on a J-1 Exchange Visitor Visa are not permitted. Housestaff on an H-1B Temporary Professional Workers visa are permitted to participate in internal moonlighting.