Liver Transplant / Advanced Practice Fellowship

The primary goal of the one-year liver transplant anesthesia fellowship is to prepare participants for an academic career that focuses on the perioperative care of high-acuity abdominal transplant patients. Important secondary goals include training in basic perioperative transesophageal echocardiography (leading to basic TEE certification) and research in the domains of transplantation, transfusion, and/or coagulation monitoring. A more complete set of goals is outlined below.

We invite applications for fellowship positions. Please send all inquiries by email to the fellowship director:

Christine Nguyen-Buckley, MD

CNguyenBuckley@mednet.ucla.edu

Fellowship Goals

• The clinical goals for the year will focus on abdominal organ transplants (liver, small bowel and multi-visceral) and non-transplant surgery for patients with hepatic/pancreatic/biliary disease.
• The research goals will focus on research in transplantation, transfusion and coagulation monitoring. The participant will be encouraged to attend the annual International Liver Transplantation Society (ILTS) perioperative (one-day) meeting accompanying the ASA annual meeting, or the ILTS International Congress (2½-day meeting). Educational funds, which will be provided, can be used for this purpose.
• The educational goals will focus on developing teaching skills relevant to training residents in major surgical procedures and/or procedures in high acuity patients.
• Echo, blood bank, and liver transplant ICU rotations will be offered as options.
• The participant will gain experience in TEE image acquisition and interpretation, a key requirement for basic certification in echocardiography. Echo case conferences will supplement hands-on experience.
• The fellowship is not regulated by the ACGME/RRC. Thus, regularly scheduled time working as an attending in the main operating room will be included. Given that the participant will be providing some clinical services as an attending, their salary as a fellow will be supplemented to reflect this blended role.
• The focus for the first portion of the year will be on autonomy; in the latter portion of the year, the focus of the fellowship will shift to include increased resident supervision and the acquisition of teaching skills.

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