Medical Students
The Department of Anesthesiology welcomes medical students at all levels to explore the world of anesthesia!
UVA School of Medicine Education Building houses the majority of our medical student courses and lectures and his home to our nationally accredited Medical Simulation Center.
The American Society of Anesthesiology wants to help educate future anesthesiologists! Explore what an anesthesiologist does and how to get there!
Medical Students and Simulation
Third Year Required Clerkship: SAGO
Course Director: Vaia Abatzis, MD
Associate Course Director: Jessica Sheeran, MD
Assistant Course Directors: Ashley Garneau, MD and Eryn Thiele, MD
During the 12-week Surgery, Anesthesiology, Gynecology & Obstetrics rotation, students rotate through ambulatory, inpatient and operating room settings of the surgical, women’s health, simulations, and anesthesiology services, spending one dedicated week on an anesthesiology rotation.
Please visit our SAGO Clerkship Website on VMED for more information.
Fourth Year Medical Student Rotations
We offer multiple elective courses for fourth-year UVA medical students:
- Anesthesiology 1001, 4-week or 2-week options
- Regional Anesthesia and Acute Pain Medicine, 2-weeks
- Obstetric Anesthesia, 2-weeks
- Cardiac Anesthesia and TEE, 2-weeks
- Chronic Pain Medicine, 2-weeks
We welcome visiting fourth-years to our 4-week Anesthesiology elective, application details below.
Anesthesiology 1001
Course Director: Susan Walters, MD
Co-Director: Josh Roach, MD
The Anesthesiology fourth-year elective is a 2 or 4-week rotation that offers students an opportunity to observe and participate in the administration of inpatient and outpatient operative anesthesia. The students, under the close supervision of residents, nurse anesthetists, and attendings, will participate in the administration of inhalation and intravenous anesthesia and the use of diagnostic and therapeutic regional anesthetic techniques. The students will learn principles of preoperative evaluation and the physiological and pharmacological management of the patient undergoing surgery. Points to be emphasized include airway management, monitoring techniques, the interpretation of laboratory values obtained intraoperatively, and the pharmacology of the anesthetic agents and other drugs used in patient management. The student is expected to attend weekly departmental lectures and conferences. The final grade is based on clinical evaluations.
Regional Anesthesia and Acute Pain Medicine
Course Director: Dominic Jose, MD
The goal of the elective is to allow students a more in-depth participation in Regional Anesthesia. The student will assume the role of actin intern and fulfill the responsibilities of a resident while on service: drawing up medications, preparing consent forms, shadowing residents and fellows obtaining block consent, and actively participating in the performance of nerve blocks. At the end of the rotation, students will be proficient at preparing patients for nerve blocks, describing the informed consent process, verbalize the indications/contraindications for common blocks and their approach/side effects/complications/alternatives. Students will, when appropriate, be allowed to perform nerve blocks under the direct supervision on the attending anesthesiologist on service.
Obstetric Anesthesia
Course Director: Jessica Sheeran, MD
The goal of the elective is to participate and understand the role of obstetric anesthesia on the labor and delivery unit. This will involve taking part in all aspects of the care of the parturient from consenting admissions to the Labor and Delivery unit for elective, urgent, and emergent procedures to performing neuraxial procedures to participating in the multidisciplinary planning for high-risk patients. Specific goals include understanding the physiologic changes of pregnancy, anesthetic considerations in pregnancy, trends in maternal morbidity and mortality, and the procedures/risks/indications for neuraxial anesthesia.
Cardiac Anesthesia and TEE
Course Director: Josh Roach, MD
During this elective, the student will learn the basic transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) views by performing online learning modules, practicing on a TEE simulation manikin, and obtaining views in the cardiac operating rooms with an attending cardiac anesthesiologist. By the end of the elective, students should be able to correctly identify the chambers of the heart from multiple views, identify a low functioning heart, and be able to recognize common valvular pathologies.
Chronic Pain Medicine
Course Director: Priya Singla, MD
The Pain Medicine elective is designed to give the medical student the opportunity to observe and participate in the care of patients with acute and chronic pain conditions. Students will learn principles of diagnosis and management of patients with acute and chronic pain including medical, interventional, and psychological treatments. The will learn about patient selection and indications and contraindications of interventional pain procedures. Students will be involved in the preparation of patients for interventional procedures in the outpatient clinic and in the operating room and participate in seeing patients in the outpatient pain clinic.
Visiting Medical Students
UVA uses VSLO, Visiting Student Learning Opportunities, for all visiting student applicants. Fourth year students may apply for Anesthesiology 1001. Applications for 2025 require an updated transcript, USMLE Step 1 passing score, CV, and a picture/headshot based on UVA SOM requirements. Applications will open in mid-March and be reviewed on a rolling basis starting in early April until all spots are filled. If highly interested, please apply early as space is limited. Away rotations will be offered in UVA blocks 8 (8/11-9/5), 9 (9/8-10/3), and 10 (10/6-10/31) in 2025.
Completing an away rotation does not guarantee a residency interview.
Application requirements:
- Must attend an LCME accredited medical school
- Be on track to complete all required clerkships at home institution
- Completed VSLO application
- Curriculum Vitae
- 2×2 photograph
- USMLE Step 1 score report and Step 2 score report (if available, may include score on CV). You must have passed Step 1 on the first attempt.
For additional information about away rotations at UVA, please visit https://med.virginia.edu/md-program/student-affairs/visiting-student-electives/.
**Unfortunately, UVA School of Medicine does not accept osteopathic or international visiting medical students at this time.**
If you have any questions, please contact the Anesthesiology 1001 Clerkship Director, Dr. Susan Walters, via email at smw9fe@uvahealth.org.
Leadership in Medicine Opportunity
The UVA GME Community is sponsoring the fourth annual opportunity for 4th year medical students accepted into summer and fall elective rotations at UVA. For students accepted into the Leadership Program, Friday afternoons during each block will be dedicated to seminars, workshops, and hands-on experiences in Leadership in Medicine, Addressing Health Disparities, Successful Residency Applications, and Internship Survival.
There will be a limited number of $1500 travel scholarships available through the GME and through the Anesthesiology Department.
If you are interested in applying to the program, please complete the following application and return it to uvagmelp@uvahealth.org and copy Susan Walters, the Anesthesiology Clerkship Director, at smw9fe@uvahealth.org.