Special Program Proposal Guidelines and Requirements

GUIDELINES

ABA Approval: Proposals, which include a variation of the training required for admission to the ABA primary examination system, require prospective approval by the ABA.

PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

• The anesthesiology program must have an accreditation cycle of three or more years; the quality of the program is key to ensuring the success of an innovative curriculum
• Prospective approval is required for all innovative education proposals (at least four months in advance of the planned training); the request must be in writing from the department chair
• The proposal should describe in detail any variance in the training required to complete the continuum of education in anesthesiology. A thorough description of the specific rotations, when the rotations will occur, and the amount of time spent in each rotation should be included in the proposal
• After an innovative education proposal is approved, the anesthesiology program must inform the ABA of the physicians who will participate in the innovative curriculum to ensure that the residents’ training records and credit are handled appropriately in the Board office
• If a resident’s research time exceeds six months, the anesthesiology department chair or program director will be asked to submit specific information to the ABA regarding the resident’s research activities, the name of the faculty member (cannot be a member of the Oversight Committee) who is mentoring the resident, the names of the faculty members serving on the Oversight Committee and the work product (description of research activities)

CLINICAL BASE YEAR REQUIREMENTS

• Six months of clinical rotations during which the resident has direct patient care responsibilities (internal medicine, pediatrics, surgery or any of the surgical specialties, obstetrics and gynecology, neurology, family medicine or any combination of these)
• One to two months emergency medicine rotation
• One to two months critical care medicine rotation
• At most one month of anesthesia may be completed during the CBY
• Hyperbaric medicine rotations may not exceed one month
• If the resident is completing a 48-month curriculum, at most two months of anesthesiology-relevant research time may be conducted during the CBY

CA 1-3 YEAR REQUIREMENTS

• Fellowship-level training may not occur during the CA 1-2 years
• A resident may complete at most three months of fellowship-level training during the CA-3 year
• Required experiences in perioperative care include four months of distinct rotations in critical care medicine and three months in pain medicine
• At most, six months of subspecialty training may occur during the CA-3 year
• Cumulative time in any one subspecialty may not exceed 12 months during the CA 1 – 3 years
• Residents must complete a minimum of 29 months of clinical anesthesia during the CA 1-3 years
• If the curriculum prevents the resident from completing the minimum clinical anesthesia training required for admission to the ABA examination system during the CA-3 year, the ABA Credentials Committee will determine when the physician can qualify for admission to the Board primary examination system

FELLOWSHIP LEVEL (CA-4) TRAINING REQUIREMENTS

• At most, three months of fellowship-level training may occur during the CA-3 year
• A minimum of nine months of clinical training must be completed during the CA-4 year of training
• Physicians must be an ABA diplomate to qualify for admission to the Board’s subspecialty examination system

RESEARCH – ABA REQUIREMENTS FOR PROTECTED RESEARCH TIME

IEP that adhere to the following guidelines do not need additional Credentials Committee approval for this research curriculum:

• 36 months (three months in CA 1-2 years, six months in CA 3 year, nine months maximum total (25 percent of total time)
• 48 months (two months in CBY of anesthesiology-relevant research time, three months in CA 1-2 years, six months in CA-3 year; 11 months maximum total (23 percent of total time)
• 60 months (two months in CBY of anesthesiology-relevant research time, three months in CA 1-2 years, six months in CA-3 year, 12 months in CA-4 year (23 months, maximum total 38 percent of total time)