Regional Anesthesia and Acute Pain Medicine Fellowship

Vanderbilt's Regional Anesthesia and Acute Pain Medicine fellowship was established in 2009 and accredited during the first cycle of accreditation for the specialty in the Fall of 2016. The program accepts 3 fellows each year. The fellowship is split between several sites.

Primary Site:

  • Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC): a large, quaternary care hospital and level 1 trauma center that is among the top 5 busiest trauma centers in the country.

Secondary Sites:

  • Fast-paced ambulatory orthopedic surgery centers with further expansion plans
  • Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital, a VUMC adjacent children's hospital with acute and chronic pediatric pain programs
  • Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital
  • Kijabe Hospital, Kijabe, Kenya, the site of an optional international regional anesthesia elective

Aside from the clinical experience, the curriculum is focused on a broad range of areas, leveraging our superb faculty to provide exposure to an array of topics including deep dives into anatomy, practice and service management, ERAS principles and practice, classic and emerging techniques for regional, informatics, education techniques, etc.

In summary, Vanderbilt combines a world-class clinical experience with training in the breadth of regional techniques, a deep focus on education, and clinical rotations that cannot be matched.

Travis Hamilton
Brian Allen, MD
Program Director, Regional Anesthesia and Acute Pain Medicine Fellowship
brian.allen@vumc.org

For more information, contact:
LaurieAnn Hembree
Associate Program Manager
615-343-5860
laurieann.hembree@vumc.org

  • Fellowship Rotations include:

    Regional Anesthesia and Acute Pain:

    • > 7000 blocks per year across all sites
    • High volume of epidural and peripheral nerve catheters, including management chest and extremity trauma
    • Home peripheral nerve catheter program
    • Focus on perioperative medicine, including enhanced recovery (ERAS) programs
    • Training in multimodal analgesia and opioid minimization
    • A multidisciplinary team, including faculty, fellows, residents, & NPs

    Ambulatory regional anesthesia:

    • Ambulatory surgery centers with a private-practice feel
    • Focus on speed, efficiency, and high volume single-injection and peripheral nerve catheters

    International Regional Anesthesia (optional):

    • 4-week, regional anesthesia-focused rotation at a hospital in Kenya
    • Vanderbilt has a full-time faculty member there throughout the year as medical director of their operating suites
    • Heavy use of neuraxial and peripheral regional anesthesia
    • ACGME-approved rotation, minimizing logistical barriers
    • Opportunities for travel and expense funding

    Pediatric pain:

    • Large, academic children’s hospital
    • Hybrid acute/chronic/regional pain experience
    • A focus on pediatric ERAS

    Addiction Psychiatry:

    • Learn to manage opioid withdrawal
    • Education in buprenorphine initiation and management
    • First-hand experience of the personal toll of the opioid crisis
    • Gain perspective on what is at stake when patients are placed on perioperative opioids

    Adult Chronic Pain:

    • Inpatient chronic pain service and outpatient cancer pain clinics
    • Participate with basic procedures as well as neurolytics and implants

    Oromaxillofacial surgery:

    • Perform intraoral nerve blocks for dental procedures
    • A distinctive experience offered by few other fellowships

    Obstetric Anesthesia (optional):

    • Almost 5,000 deliveries per year with a focus on high-risk obstetrics

  • How to apply
    Please apply through the SF Match

    Contact Person: LaurieAnn Hembree, Program Coordinator
    Email: laurieann.hembree@vumc.org
    Address:
    Department of Anesthesiology
    1211 21st Avenue Medical Center Drive
    Suite 701
    Nashville, TN 37232-5614

    Phone: (615)-936-7616
    Fax: (615) 936-6493

    Details
    Brian F. S. Allen, MD, Fellowship Director

    Other affiliated faculty:
    Vik Bansal, MD
    Clifford Bowens, MD
    Eric Briggs, MD
    Jeff Clemmons, MD
    Lane Crawford, MD
    Andrew Franklin, MD, MBA
    Raj Gupta, MD
    Julio Gonzalez-Sotomayor, MD
    Sarah Miller, MD
    Puneet Mishra, MD
    Edward Yaghmour, MD


    Participating hospitals:
    Vanderbilt University Medical Center
    AIC Kijabe Hospital
    Vanderbilt Bone and Joint Surgery Center
    Vanderbilt Orthopedic Surgicenter
    Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital
    Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital

     

  • Standard Compensation & Benefits (health, life, & disability insurance; retirement plans; etc.) are in accordance with the Vanderbilt University Office of Graduate Medical Education.

    The RAAPM fellow salary is currently over $80,000 per year with additional CME and conference stipends. The specific PGY-5 salary is updated annually and published on the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine GME Website HERE. Moonlighting opportunities are available weekdays and select weekends. Eligibility for moonlighting requires a Tennessee medical license and satisfactory performance during the first 3 months of fellowship.