Frequently Asked Questions

A: The UCI Anesthesiology Residency Program requires candidates to apply through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) and Central Application. Candidates will be ranked and a rank list will be submitted to the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP). Visit Admissions for more detailed information.

A: We offer 60 positions, 15 residents per class.

A: A typical day for clinical anesthesia residents starts with arriving at the hospital at 6:30 a.m. or earlier depending on clinical assignment. First case in the operating room (OR) starts at 7:15 a.m. Main OR cases include outpatient surgery, GI, IR, and inpatient surgeries. Residents are always relieved for a 15-minute morning break and a 30-minute lunch break and a 30-minute dinner break if the shift is longer. Most resident days end between 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Residents who stay later are typically on call the following night.

A: The intern year includes a variety of clinical rotations which includes emergency medicine, obstetrics, surgery, intensive care and other clinical specialities. Interns have the opportunity to work with residents from other departments which create long-lasting friendships that carry on throughout residency.

During monthly didactics, interns spend the morning portion in the OR paired with an anesthesia resident or attending. This allows us to get familiar with our department, as well as the flow of the OR. We typically have afternoon lectures and hands-on workshops on didactic days. There is ample time to study for USMLE Step 3 as well as prepare for the clinical anesthesia years.

A: A typical Main OR call is a 12.5-hour call shift that starts at 6:30 p.m. and ends between 6:30-7:00 a.m. Residents will have the morning and afternoon off to rest, study, run errands, etc. Residents receive a full post call day to recover. Most residents have one call per week and work one to two weekends per month. Weekend call include one to two, 12.5-hour shifts. Call teams consist of three residents and two attendings along with a home back-up team.

A: Faculty mentorship starts day one of residency training. It is an integral component of residency career development, clinician well-being, resilience and growth of skills and abilities. Residents are assigned a faculty mentor during the PGY-1 year who will follow the resident’s progress during residency training. Residents cultivate many more mentoring relationships with the faculty based on the resident’s interests. Oftentimes, faculty will become a part of the resident’s network for advising on career opportunities, fellowship training, job prospects and life goals.

A: Feedback in our residency program starts with the collection of evaluations by the faculty and attending staff who work side by side with the resident. The New Innovations dashboard is readily available to all residents whose evaluations and performance reports should be routinely read. In addition, the operating room staff have the opportunity to provide evaluations of the resident’s professionalism and interpersonal communication skills bi-annually. An end of day conversation between the resident and faculty of what went well and what could be done better provides an additional feedback tool for growth and improving skills and abilities as an anesthesiologists.

A: The UCI Medical Center is a 417-bed acute care hospital providing tertiary and quaternary care, ambulatory and specialty medical, behavioral health and rehabilitation services. There are 21 high-tech operating rooms including two hybrid cardiac care operating rooms. UCI is set to build a world-class, acute care hospital on Irvine campus, read the press release.