The Department of Anesthesiology is involved in undergraduate teaching through all four years of the UBC MD Undergraduate Program. Faculty are involved in lectures and case-based learning in Years 1 and 2 of the program. There are opportunities for pre-clerkship students to shadow anesthesiologists in the operating room as an extracurricular activity.
In Year 3, the department offers a two-week clerkship rotation in anesthesiology as part of their Surgery and Perioperative Care block, where students have an opportunity to be one-on-one with an attending staff every day when feasible. The clerkship combines instruction by anesthesiologists in the operating and recovery rooms, and self-directed online modules. Teaching is delivered in 11 teaching sites across four clinical academic campuses and an additional 6 Integrated Community Clerkship Sites. Students consistently rate the anesthesiology clerkship as one of the top two clerkship rotations.
In Year 4, students have the opportunity to undertake two- or four-week electives within anesthesiology. The goals of the electives are to allow students to explore career possibilities, to gain experience in aspects of Anesthesiology beyond the core curriculum, and to study subjects in greater depth. Knowledge, skills, and attitudes are further developed in a clinical context selected by students. Visiting students from approved universities are welcome to enroll in an anesthesiology elective in their final years of medical school. Please refer to the Visiting Student Elective Program.