Welcome to the Department of Anesthesiology at WashU Medicine!
Congratulations on deciding to become an anesthesiologist. Although the next four years are a small part of your long, productive, and rewarding career, choosing the right residency program will have a significant impact on your career trajectory. Whether you want to pursue private practice, subspecialize within academia, start a translational lab, or lead an anesthesiology department, WashU Medicine will prepare you to practice and succeed anywhere. We are looking for applicants who are highly motivated, compassionate, and collaborative.
As an intern, you will rotate in the Departments of Medicine, Surgery, and Emergency Medicine, including the surgical and cardiothoracic intensive care unit (ICU). Teams are led by experienced attendings who are passionate about teaching and senior residents and/or fellows who will guide and support you. The camaraderie you gain with your co-interns across specialties will become crucial later in training when you work together in the operating room (OR), run an anesthesia STAT on the medicine floor, or respond to a Level 1 trauma in the emergency department (ED). Our intern curriculum provides all anesthesia interns with protected education time away from clinical duties. You spend time interacting with several members of the Department of Anesthesiology in the pre-op clinic, inpatient pain management service, simulation lab, in the OR during a month-long anesthesia elective, and during your ICU rotations. Many of the attendings you meet as an intern will become mentors later in your clinical years.
During your CA1-CA3 years, you will experience every facet of adult and pediatric anesthesia. WashU residents get early subspecialty exposure as a CA1 and are given priority for educational cases. Each resident receives a protected Wednesday free of clinical activities every three weeks for education day, with didactics tailored to their class year. Barnes-Jewish Hospital cares for a wide variety of patients with diverse backgrounds and pathologies. Your numerous experiences managing both straightforward and complex cases in the operating room will pay off multiple times over later in your career. During this challenging but rewarding time, you will also develop strong, life-long friendships with your co-residents.
St. Louis is a thriving major metropolitan area with a vibrant arts, theater, and restaurant scene. It is one of the most affordable cities in the country, and the majority of the museums and attractions are free. Barnes-Jewish Hospital sits at the edge of the beautiful Forest Park, one of the country’s largest urban parks (larger than Central Park!) and many residents enjoy biking, running, and walking there in every season. St. Louis is an easy city to live in, with minimal traffic and ample affordable housing near the medical center. Beautiful hikes and scenic trails are a short drive from the medical center. This affordability means more vacation trips, dining out with co-residents, and living somewhere that’s large enough to accommodate your family, children, or pets.
Many of you have a memorable anesthesiologist who inspired you to pursue anesthesia. Perhaps they were calm under pressure, decisive, or a procedural wizard. Training at WashU Medicine will give you the skillset and confidence to become that person. Beyond residency, you will be well-prepared to handle stressful intraoperative scenarios and will be the person others call to help them out. By the end of training, you will see for yourself that if you train here, you can thrive anywhere.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Sincerely,
2025-26 Chief Residents
Nathan Achilly, MD PhD
Brandon DeClouette, MD
Arianna Montes de Oca, MD