Department of
Anesthesiology

Clinical Training

Comprehensive Clinical Training on One Medical Campus

WVU offers the clinical breadth and complexity of a major academic referral center with the advantage of having our primary adult, pediatric, cardiovascular, oncologic, and subspecialty facilities concentrated on one medical campus in Morgantown.

J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital, the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute, WVU Medicine Golisano Children’s Hospital, and the WVU Cancer Institute are all located on the same campus. The campus continues to expand, including additional outpatient surgical facilities scheduled to open in 2027.

This concentration of clinical services allows residents to care for a broad spectrum of patients without routinely traveling between separate hospital systems across a city or region.

Residents gain experience in routine and complex anesthetic care, trauma, cardiovascular surgery, pediatric surgery, obstetrics, neurosurgery, regional anesthesia and acute pain medicine, critical care, chronic pain, ambulatory surgery, and perioperative medicine.

Clinical Training by Year

CA-0 | Intern Year

The categorical intern year provides a broad foundation in medical and surgical care while introducing residents to anesthesiology early in training.

Residents complete two months of anesthesiology during the intern year, including a dedicated period of operating room assimilation before beginning the CA-1 year.

Additional experiences include rotations in medical and surgical specialties important to the care of perioperative patients, including:

  • Internal Medicine
  • Medical and Pediatric Intensive Care
  • Emergency Medicine
  • Neurology
  • Pulmonology
  • Pediatric Surgery
  • Neurosurgery
  • Obstetrics and Gynecology
  • Otolaryngology

The goal of the intern year is to develop the clinical foundation necessary to care for medically complex patients throughout the perioperative period.

CA-1 | Building the Foundation

The CA-1 year is centered around eight months of Basic Anesthesia Training (BAT).

During BAT, residents develop the fundamental skills required for anesthetic practice, including preoperative assessment, anesthetic planning, airway management, vascular access, physiologic monitoring, pharmacology, intraoperative management, emergence, and postoperative care.

Residents begin with close faculty supervision and progressively assume greater responsibility as their knowledge, technical skills, and clinical judgment develop.

Additional CA-1 experiences include:

  • Obstetric Anesthesiology
  • Regional Anesthesia and Acute Pain Medicine
  • Pre-Admission Evaluation
  • Surgical Critical Care

By the end of the CA-1 year, residents have established the foundation necessary to begin more advanced subspecialty training.

CA-2 | Expanding Subspecialty Experience

During the CA-2 year, residents progress into Intermediate Anesthesia Training (IAT) and expand their experience across the major anesthesiology subspecialties.

Clinical experiences include:

  • Intermediate Anesthesia Training
  • Cardiovascular Anesthesiology
  • Pediatric Anesthesiology
  • Neuroanesthesiology
  • Obstetric Anesthesiology
  • Regional Anesthesia and Acute Pain Medicine
  • Chronic Pain Medicine
  • Surgical Critical Care

Residents care for increasingly complex patients and procedures while developing greater independence in anesthetic planning, intraoperative management, and perioperative decision-making.

CA-3 | Advanced and Individualized Training

The CA-3 year is designed to prepare residents for independent practice while allowing substantial flexibility to pursue individual clinical interests and career goals.

Residents complete six months of Advanced Anesthesia Training (AAT) and may select additional advanced or elective experiences based on their interests.

Elective opportunities include:

  • Advanced General Anesthesiology
  • Substaffing
  • Cardiovascular Anesthesiology
  • Pediatric Anesthesiology
  • Neuroanesthesiology
  • Obstetric Anesthesiology
  • Regional Anesthesia and Acute Pain Medicine
  • Chronic Pain Medicine
  • Point-of-Care Ultrasound
  • Transesophageal Echocardiography
  • Ambulatory Anesthesiology
  • Research

This flexibility allows residents to strengthen areas relevant to fellowship training, academic medicine, private practice, or other career goals while continuing to develop the independence expected of a graduating anesthesiologist.

Progressive Responsibility

Clinical responsibility increases throughout residency in a deliberate progression.

Junior residents focus on mastering the fundamentals of safe anesthetic care. As residents advance, they manage increasingly complex patients, develop greater independence in anesthetic planning and perioperative decision-making, and assume greater responsibility during urgent and emergent cases.

Senior residents are expected to function with increasing autonomy under faculty supervision and develop the clinical judgment, leadership skills, and technical proficiency required for independent practice.

Broad Subspecialty Experience

Residents receive clinical experience across the major areas of anesthesiology, including:

  • General Anesthesiology
  • Cardiovascular Anesthesiology
  • Pediatric Anesthesiology
  • Obstetric Anesthesiology
  • Regional Anesthesia and Acute Pain Medicine
  • Neuroanesthesiology
  • Critical Care Medicine
  • Chronic Pain Medicine
  • Ambulatory Anesthesiology
  • Trauma and Emergency Surgery
  • Perioperative Medicine
  • Point-of-Care Ultrasound

Training at a high-acuity academic referral center provides exposure to both routine anesthetic practice and complex patients referred to WVU for advanced medical and surgical care.

Call and Emergency Experience

Residents begin anesthesia call during the CA-1 year after an initial period of daytime clinical training.

Call provides experience managing urgent and emergent cases throughout the medical center, including operating room emergencies, obstetric anesthesia, pediatric anesthesia, cardiovascular anesthesia, regional anesthesia and acute pain, and other perioperative services.

Junior and senior residents work together as part of the call team, allowing progressive responsibility while maintaining appropriate supervision and support.

CA-1 through CA-3 residents do not take 24-hour calls while assigned to clinical anesthesiology.

Regional Anesthesia and Acute Pain Medicine

Residents receive substantial experience in regional anesthesia and acute pain medicine, including ultrasound-guided peripheral nerve blocks, neuraxial techniques, management of continuous peripheral nerve catheters, and consultation for patients with complex acute pain.

The Regional Anesthesia and Acute Pain service performs more than 3,000 peripheral nerve blocks and provides more than 2,500 acute pain consultations each year, providing residents with broad exposure to contemporary regional and acute pain practice.

Training for What Comes Next

Our goal is to graduate anesthesiologists who are comfortable caring for patients across a wide range of clinical environments.

Whether graduates pursue fellowship training, academic medicine, private practice, or another career path, the combination of high-acuity clinical experience, progressive responsibility, broad subspecialty exposure, and individualized senior-year training is designed to prepare them for the next stage of their careers.