Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine Fellowship

The Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital offers a Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine Fellowship to two fellows each year. Acute pain and regional anesthesia is a rapidly growing subspecialty within health care.

During a 12-month period, the fellows will rotate through a broad range of clinical areas including outpatient, inpatient, and pediatric regional and acute pain management. Fellows will also have the option to extend the fellowship for an additional research year.

Please note: We have been approved for ACGME accreditation as of March 30, 2017.

Program Requirements

The Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital follows all minimum selection criteria as delineated in the Institutional Policy on Selection (PDF). As a prerequisite for entry, all applicants for the fellowship must be a graduate of one of the following:

• Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME)-accredited medical school
• American Osteopathic Association (AOA)-accredited medical school
• Medical school listed in the World Health Organization Directory of Medical Schools
• USMLE completion requirement for clinical trainees

Applicants must have also completed an anesthesia residency program accredited by one of the following:

• Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)
• Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC)

Visa Information

All residents, clinical fellows, research fellows and staff who are not United States citizens and do not have a green card must have the appropriate visa in order to receive a Mass General appointment.

For questions regarding a J-1 visa, please call the Mass General Registrar/Credentialing Office at 617-726-5316. Questions on all other types of visas should be directed to the Partners International Office at 617-726-9211.

Didactic Curriculum

The Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine Fellowship offers a comprehensive didactic program for training in perioperative pain management. Each rotation's curriculum varies, but will generally consist of the following educational opportunities:

• Faculty lectures
• Journal Clubs
• Grand Rounds
• Case conferences
• Simulation
• Multidisciplinary Pain Conferences
• Ultrasound workshops

Fellows are expected, and will receive support, to attend the annual American Society of Regional Anesthesia (ASRA) Meeting, as well as participate in conferences, workshops and mentoring sessions. The meetings include lectures and presentations on topics of particular interest to acute pain and regional anesthesia practitioners.  

The overall goal of the program is to provide comprehensive advanced training for anesthesiologists in all aspects of care related to postoperative pain management with a particular emphasis on regional techniques. Two fellows will be accepted to the program each year. The majority of the training is spent at Massachusetts General Hospital on the Acute Pain Service (APS) which has over 9,000 patient encounters per year and on the Regional Anesthesia Service at Mass General which performs nearly 4,000 blocks per year.

Fellows are exposed to a wide variety of acute pain and regional strategies, including:

• Ultrasound guided single-shot, peripheral and central neuraxial blocks
• Continuous catheter techniques
• Ultrasound and fluoroscopy guidance
• Treatment of acute on chronic pain
• Use of high dose opioid PCAs and opioid agonist-antagonists
• Use of non-opioid adjuncts such as ketamine, precedex, and lidocaine
• Use and dosing of methadone
• Management of opioid dependence in pregnant and non-pregnant patients 
• Other innovative approaches to perioperative pain management

The fellowship is structured with the following rotations:

• Acute pain and regional anesthesia (nine months)
• Pediatric regional anesthesia at Boston Children’s Hospital (one month)
• Chronic inpatient pain elective (two weeks)
• Obstetric anesthesia elective (two weeks)
• Vacation (one month)

Fellowship Application

Selection to the fellowship is highly competitive. Only completed applications are reviewed.   

Application Documents

Please submit the following documents electronically:

1. Personal statement describing your interest in the Acute Pain and Regional Anesthesia Fellowship and your plans after completion of the fellowship
2. Completed application  
3. A current curriculum vitae
4. Three letters of recommendation: One letter must be from your residency program director or chief of service. Letters should be addressed to Dr. Brinda Kamdar and sent from the letter writer’s email or his/her assistant’s email  
5. A copy of your medical school transcript
6. A copy of your USMLE transcript

Application Process

All documents should be sent electronically to MGHAcutePain@partners.org to the attention of:

Dr. Brinda Kamdar, fellowship director
c/o Kristen O'Connor, program manager
Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine
Massachusetts General Hospital

Applicants should use the following naming convention (first five letters of last name, first initial, document type):

• Claus_S_CV
• Claus_S_PS
• Claus_S_MST
• Claus_S_USMLE 

Application Deadline

The deadline for completed applications is September 1, 2018 for a start date of July 1, 2019. Only complete applications will be reviewed. We will begin offering interviews to qualified candidates in the spring of 2018. Failure to provide all requested information will keep your application from being considered.