About the Program
Welcome and thank you for your interest in the Pediatric Anesthesiology Fellowship at the University of Iowa! The pediatric anesthesia team is delighted to work in the beautiful University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital and would be proud to participate in your training.
Our one year ACGME-accredited program will expose you to all aspects of Pediatric Anesthesiology. Our goal is to provide fellows with an outstanding clinical education to become capable independent pediatric anesthesiologists who are ready to pursue careers in academic medicine or private practice.
Mission Statement
The mission of the Pediatric Anesthesia Fellowship program is to provide an evidence-based, high quality sub-specialty education for anesthesiologists which will continually advance the safety and quality of anesthetic care, perioperative management, and alleviation of pain in children and develop future leaders in the field of pediatric anesthesiology.
Program Aims
1. Our primary aim is to recruit and train fellows to become highly competent and independent pediatric anesthesia consultants who achieve board-certification in Pediatric Anesthesiology by the American Board of Anesthesiology.
2. Fellows will have the support to develop teaching and communication skills: working with patients and families, junior learners, physician colleagues, and non-physician colleagues.
3. Fellows will have mentorship to develop skills for interpreting the medical literature, contributing to the medical literature, and developing the mindset for life-long learning.
4. Faculty development will be enhanced to help them become as effective in teaching and mentoring scholarly activity and quality improvement as they are with providing patient care
Martin Mueller, M.D.
Clinical Associate Professor
Program Director, Pediatric Anesthesiology Fellowship
Clinical Experiences & Rotations
Pediatric Anesthesia Fellowship Rotations
Operating Rooms Pediatric Anesthesia
6 ½ months–the majority of the fellowship year consists of clinical anesthesia for general pediatric surgeries, pediatric cardiothoracic surgeries or cardiac catheterizations, pediatric neuroanesthesia surgeries, night call, or ambulatory pediatric cases in UI Stead Family Children's Hospital.
Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU)
2 weeks–during this required rotation, the fellow physician will focus on intensive care management of pediatric patients.
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
2 weeks–fellow physician will focus on high acuity post-op neonates, with exposure to ventilation modes and umbilical cord lines.
Pediatric Pain Service & Regional Anesthesia
1 month
Pediatric Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU)
2 weeks
Pediatric Sedation
1 week
Academic Project/Scholarly Activity and Meeting Time
3 weeks–fellow physician completes a QA/QI project, simulation project, and a scholarly project to be presented at the SPA (Society for Pediatric Anesthesia) meeting.
Elective
1 month–one week of international mission trip doing pediatric cases is possible.
Pediatric Independent Practice
1 month–fellow physician functions as the supervisor of a pediatric anesthesia team in UI Stead Family Children's Hospital.
Rotation Goals and Objectives
Goals and objectives are established for each rotation and can be reviewed here (note: UIowa/Internal access only)
Didactic Teaching Program
Pediatric Anesthesia Fellowship Didactics
The program schedules formal didactic presentations on Monday mornings from 7-7:45 am in conference room 42215 of UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital. In addition to the traditional lecture format, didactic teaching includes Problem-Based Learning Discussions, Journal Club, and Workshops.
Anesthesia Grand Rounds
The Anesthesia Grand Rounds meets on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Tuesdays from 7-7:45 am. One of these Tuesday mornings will be devoted to the Mortality and Morbidity (M & M) meeting, a patient management conference where residents and fellows are expected to share teaching moments and difficult cases and to discuss complications with their peers to enhance the education of all clinical department members. M & M is moderated by a faculty member. The moderator selects the patient cases for discussion, which are presented by the resident or fellow primarily involved in the patient's care.
Journal Club
Pediatric Anesthesia Journal Clubs are held at locations outside of the hospital complex. Prior to the meetings, the journal articles to be discussed, names of the discussants, and location are published by e-mail and on the Department intranet calendar.
Simulator Program
This program is run by Clark Obr, M.D. Simulation facilitates fellow learning by using a 
controlled, but very realistic, learning environment. Patient scenarios are manipulated so that fellows can work on specific skills, especially rare events, and crisis scenarios. Fellows are scheduled to attend simulator sessions periodically throughout fellowship.
Workshops & Courses
The Anesthesia Department and other Carver College of Medicine departments hold workshops and courses throughout the year, including:
- Advanced Airway Symposium
- Iowa Anesthesia Symposium
- RASCI (Regional Anesthesia Study Center of Iowa)
- Pain Medicine symposiums
- Transplant Anesthesia
- Ethics in Healthcare (Internal Medicine's Program in Bioethics and Humanities)
Program Accreditation & Board Certification
Program Accreditation
The pediatric anesthesiology fellowship at University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics is a one-year Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education accredited program. The program is approved for 2 total fellow positions
Information specific to program requirements for a pediatric anesthesia training program and milestones for fellow performance may be found at the ACGME’s Anesthesiology Review Committee (RC).
Board Certification
The ABA-American Board of Anesthesiology-certifies physicians in pediatric anesthesiology by administering the Pediatric Anesthesiology examination.
The pediatric anesthesiology discipline includes the evaluation, preparation and management of pediatric patients undergoing diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in operative and critical care settings. In addition, this discipline also entails the evaluation and treatment of children with acute and chronic painful disorders.
Subspecialty certification is detailed in the ABA's BOI (Booklet of Information).