Applications accepted until November 1st!
WFU RAAPM Fellowship brochure (.pdf)
WFU RAAPM Fellowship goals and objectives (.pdf)
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center
The RAAPM Fellowship is an educational opportunity within the much-larger teaching milieu of the Department of Anesthesiology of Wake Forest University School of Medicine. 
The Department has a long-standing commitment to education, research, and patient care, and sponsors a fully accredited Residency in anesthesiology as well as other subspecialty Fellowships in Critical Care, Chronic Pain, Cardiac, Obstetric and Neuroanesthesia. As such, RAAPM Fellows have full access to the infrastructure for research and education provided by the Department and the School of Medicine. Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is a 980-bed hospital with 40 operating rooms. Direct Faculty supervision and guidance is provided by subspecialty-trained anesthesiologists with expertise in RAAPM.
The Section of Regional Anesthesia and Acute Pain Management
The Section of Regional Anesthesia and Acute Pain Management (RAAPM) is responsible for the provision of regional anesthetics and acute pain management throughout the institution. The RAAPM section performs about 3500 peripheral nerve blocks, 2000 neuraxial blocks, and 600 continuous peripheral blocks yearly. This activity occurs in our state-of-the-art six-bed RAAPM area built in 2008. Centrally located within our OR suite, the RAAPM area is well staffed and equipped to provide regional anesthesia for a wide range of surgical specialties.
Our routine practices includes nerve stimulating catheter techniques, ultrasound guided PNB, extended release epidural morphine, and ambulatory perineural infusions. The RAAPM section manages patients using a systems-based approach to multimodal analgesia. We employ a computer-based and automated regional anesthesia record in the RAAPM area and computer-based progress notes throughout the institution to maintain process improvement in patient care, data collection for research, and billing compliance.
Each day, one RAAPM Faculty, 2-3 residents and 1-2 Fellows provide care for patients in the RAAPM area. RAAPM Residents and Fellows are not assigned to an operating room. Instead, RAAPM Fellows working in the RAAPM area, perform regional anesthesia procedures as well as instruct Residents and conduct clinical research, under the supervision of the RAAPM faculty covering the RAAPM area.
The Acute Pain Service (APS) is an integral part of the RAAPM Section. Unlike pain services at many other institutions, coverage of a Chronic Pain Clinic is not the intended responsibility of this service. Instead, our APS is fully integrated into the process of perioperative patient care. The APS is committed to providing 24/7 care to patients with acute pain. Each day, a second RAAPM Faculty member, 1-2 Residents, and 0-1 Fellows, integrate postoperative and ambulatory care plans with the regional anesthetics initiated in the RAAPM area. Faculty, Fellows and Residents provide call from home. The RAAPM Fellow call commitment is always specific to the APS, always faculty supervised, and is approximately 1:8.
Each of our two Fellowship positions is designed to extend over one academic year. A strong didactic program enhances the RAAPM Fellowship education. Available didactics include Departmental Grand Rounds, Regional Anesthesia Subspecialty Conference, Morbidity & Mortality Conference and Oral Board Practice Sessions. Our Section supports a Visiting Clinical Preceptorship to our facility, CME RAAPM workshops, and fresh cadaver dissections on a regular basis. Fellows are expected to participate and prepare presentations with faculty guidance. 
Each Fellow is also expected to participate in and present a research project with faculty mentorship, to be completed by the end of the academic year.
Finally, an important element of the WFU Fellowship is the opportunity to maintain and enhance skills as a consultant anesthesiologist in a tertiary care facility. One day a week, the RAAPM Fellow functions at the level of Faculty—supervising residents and SRNA’s or medically directing CRNA’s for general OR cases. This responsibility is built into the WFU anesthesiology Fellowships in other subspecialty fields as well. This feature of the Fellowship means that a Fellow’s application must be of sufficient quality to support these activities in addition to those of his or her Fellowship training.
- Patient Care and Medical Knowledge—
Upon completion of the Fellowship, the diplomate will be able to:- Skillfully and efficiently perform a comprehensive variety of modern approaches and techniques for achieving successful regional anesthesia and analgesia.
- Employ evidenced-based pain management strategies along with sound clinical decision making in individual patients, both routine and complex.
- Combine NSAIDs and non-opioid adjuncts with neuraxial, parenteral, and intravenous opioids, to achieve highly effective multi–modal analgesia.
- Match specific patient and surgical procedure requirements with the most appropriate regional anesthetics.
- Discuss the current literature guiding selection of local anesthetics and adjuncts used for neural blockade.
- Practice-Based Learning and Professionalism—
Upon completion of the Fellowship, the diplomate will be able to:- Evaluate clinical research, and participate in and present a research project in the field of Regional Anesthesia and Acute Pain Management.
- Instruct residents in anesthesiology in the application of regional anesthesia techniques using clinical and didactic teaching.
- Function effectively within a care model of regional anesthesia delivery employing information management, nurses, equipment and a specialized facility.
- Monitor and manage the provision of regional anesthesia within the framework of a complex OR schedule.
- Systems-Based Practice—
Upon completion of the Fellowship, the diplomate will be able to:- Build the infrastructure necessary to develop a service to provide Regional Anesthesia and Acute Pain Management at any teaching or private hospital.
- Integrate a patient- and surgeon-centered approach to the provision of acute pain management.
- Utilize and describe the benefits of a computerized medical record specific to improving regional anesthesia practices
- Implement rigorous documentation practices to improve patient care and data collection for process improvement, research, and billing compliance.
Faculty
Stephen J Copeland MD
James C Crews MD
(Director of Acute Pain Service)
JC Gerancher MD
(Section Head for RAAPM)
Quinn McCutchen MD
Pamela C Nagle MD
Wells Reynolds MD
Robert S Weller MD
Dr. Robert Weller is RAAPM Fellowship coordinator and is directly responsible to the Fellows as an advisor.
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Winston-Salem is centrally-located in the beautiful state of North Carolina, with access to the Appalachian Mountains, and the wide sandy beaches of the coast. The weather is temperate South, with lots of sunshine, and warm seasons of spring and autumn. The town has a population of 170,000, with a modest growth rate, and is known as a safe and attractive town for young families. There is the educational, historic section of Old Salem, and a rejuvenated downtown restaurant and entertainment district. For more information, see:
www.visitwinstonsalem.com
www.winstonsalemmonthly.com
www.relishnow.com
