Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine Fellowship Program at Mount Sinai West and Mount Sinai Morningside

We are one of nine pioneering regional anesthesia and acute pain medicine fellowship programs in the United States to receive the inaugural Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) accreditation in 2017. This is a testament to our commitment to academic excellence and leadership development for our fellows. Our Department Chair, Meg Rosenblatt, MD, is a renowned regional anesthesiologist and a leader in academic anesthesiology. We offer you great opportunities for training in regional anesthesiology and acute pain medicine in our busy clinical and academic setting with tremendous diversity in patient population and faculty.

Our 12-month training program has flexible start dates from July to September. We accept two fellows annually. Our program consists of clinical rotations at both Mount Sinai West, which offers special expertise in orthopedics, and Mount Sinai Morningside, which has a particularly strong trauma program. You also gain experience in our acute pain medicine service and preoperative testing clinic to allow for a truly multidisciplinary experience. Our other rotations such as research/leadership, point of care ultrasound, and truncal blocks, are constructed and constantly revised based on feedback from our current and past fellows that adapts to the latest changes in practice patterns and innovations in our subspecialty field. Our fellows graduate as confident leaders in the world of regional anesthesia due to their excellent clinical training and the ability master their skills to teach and lead. 

We thank you for your interest in our program and invite you to reach out to us with any questions.

Program Overview

We offer a comprehensive one-year ACGME-accredited fellowship that is structured to graduate innovative academic and clinical leaders in regional anesthesiology with a global perspective on managing perioperative pain. Our fellows receive vast clinical exposure to neuraxial and peripheral nerve blockade including blocks of the head and neck, upper and lower extremities, and chest and trunk, with nerve-stimulator, ultrasound-guided, and continuous catheter techniques. You also supervise and perform more than 4,000 peripheral nerve blocks annually, with 1000 of these blocks involving nerve catheters. The nine members of our practicing regional anesthesia faculty, along with six pain management attendings, represents a third of our Department faculty. Together we contribute to a robust clinical service as well as our clinical research and mentoring programs.

How to Apply

We seek candidates who are enthusiastic, vibrant, intelligent, collegial, and compassionate with leadership potential and a strong vision for the future of anesthesiology.

Qualified applicants include current trainees or graduates of ACGME-accredited anesthesiology residency programs in the United States. You must be board eligible and hold either a New York State license or limited permit.

Applicants must register with and apply to our program through the SF match website. Registration and application can be found here:

Applications are accepted through SF match portal and require the following:

  • Program common application
  • CV
  • Personal statement along with a one-paragraph description of a preliminary research idea (one page maximum)
  • Copies of your In-Training Examination scores to date
  • Three letters of reference from your current program director and faculty

We offer guaranteed subsidized housing across the street from Mount Sinai West, within walking distance to Lincoln Center, Columbus Circle, and Central Park.

Other fellowship details include:

  • Duration: 12 Months
  • Number of positions: two
  • Salary: $89,811 plus benefits (subject to yearly updates), educational, book allowance and paid conference.
  • We offer guaranteed subsidized housing across the street from Mount Sinai West, within walking distance to Lincoln Center, Columbus Circle, and Central Park.
  • Application deadline: Until the positions are filled.

Schedule

Our fellows have no attending or on call responsibilities.

Moonlighting opportunities available along with overtime pay. Opportunities to moonlight/ take call on weekends at Mount Sinai Affiliate Hospitals.

Every week, our fellows have two protected non-clinical days with one day dedicated to research (including conducting and implementing our ongoing clinical trials) and another day for advancing your supervision and teaching skills.

A typical yearly schedule consists of:

  • Three months of clinical operating room-based regional anesthesia training
  • Three months of acute pain medicine as mandated by ACGME
  • Two weeks to one month of chronic pain medicine as mandated by ACGME
  • One month of regional anesthesia with focus on thoracic and abdominal truncal blocks
  • One or two months of trauma regional anesthesia
  • One month of perioperative ultrasound and POCUS rotation
  • One month of self-directed selective (e.g., pre-admission testing, research, leadership, obstetrics, acupuncture and global health opportunities)
  • One month of pediatric regional anesthesia and acute pain rotation

Our two hospital sites, Mount Sinai West and Mount Sinai Morningside, deliver services for the culturally diverse communities of the Upper West Side and Midtown West. Mount Sinai West is an orthopedic-centric hospital that offers a variety of joint replacement procedures (notably shoulder, knee, and hip), arm and hand surgery, foot and ankle surgery, and spine surgery. Mount Sinai Morningside is a Level II Trauma Center with a high volume of orthopedic trauma, cardiac, bariatric, rib fractures, and other trauma. Both hospitals also have a broad mix of thoracic, breast, and abdominal procedures that are amenable for a variety of truncal blocks. In addition, our fellows can rotate to The Mount Sinai Hospital for pediatric experiences with pain medicine.

Curriculum

The fellows have tremendous opportunities to shape weekly didactic programs and workshops for residents, to lead in the development and establishment of our subspecialty, and to expand our practice into other surgical settings such as pediatric, trauma, perioperative ultrasound use, and international missions. You may also represent the Department as an integral force participating in numerous departmental and hospital committees to formulate clinical standards and optimize patient outcomes. We strongly encourage you to present abstracts and workshops at major international conferences such as the American Society of Anesthesiologists, Post Graduate Assembly in Anesthesiology, and the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine. Our fellows have led regional anesthesia workshops at PGA, collaborated in interdepartmental POCUS- regional anesthesia workshops with ED and pulmonary critical care residents.

Our fellows learn about nerve stimulation and the proper use of a variety of catheters in a clinical setting along with their management. We also offer a weekly didactic program involving journal clubs, hands-on workshops, ultrasound image conferences, problem-based discussion sessions, mock oral exams with three American Board of Anesthesiology examiners in our Department, and traditional lectures in our various educational tracks integrated throughout the year. The tracks are: basic and advanced extremity blocks, neuraxial ultrasound, perioperative ultrasound, and truncal blocks. Uniquely integrated cadaver dissection lab program to help understand anatomy pertinent to regional anesthesia. We help you keep up to date with the latest innovations in the field. Superb research opportunities and unrivaled mentorship from national leaders are a foundation to our fellowship. Mandatory journal clubs and grand rounds presentations to the department with latest regional anesthesia updates. Fellows are expected to participate in departmental clinical research, book chapters, review articles and ongoing projects. Here are some of the procedures and types of peripheral nerve blocks you perform or learn how to teach and supervise residents:

  • Hip and knee procedures (total joint replacement or patella or anterior cruciate ligament) with femoral or adductor canal blocks or IPACK blocks, fascia iliaca blocks, PENG blocks or catheters: approximately ten procedures per week
  • Foot and ankle cases with popliteal blocks or catheters: five per week
  • Upper extremity cases (wrist, elbow) with supraclavicular/infraclavicular/axillary blocks or catheters): Thirty per week
  • Shoulder cases with interscalene blocks or catheters: seven cases per week. We are proudly the only hospital in Manhattan with ambulatory catheter service.
  • Joint replacement with lumbar neuraxial blocks: Twenty per week
  • Truncal procedures (head/neck cases with scalp blocks and cervical plexus blocks, ear, nose, and throat cases with airway blocks, robotic cardiothoracic/breast cases with pecs blocks, paravertebrals, erector spinae catheters and thoracic epidurals, gynecological/colorectal/robotic nephrectomy cases with quadratus lumborum blocks, rectus sheath blocks, lumbar paravertebral, and lumbar neuraxial blocks): five cases per week
  • Some other blocks commonly done: costoclavicular block, rescue blocks- selective radial, median and ulnar nerve blocks.

Read more about our current publications.

Current Fellows: 2023-2024

Elizabeth Luebbert, MD
Anesthesiology Residency: Mount Sinai West/ Mount Sinai Morningside Hospitals

Karen Paltoo, MD
Anesthesiology Residency: Montefiore Medical Center/ Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Incoming Fellows: 2024-2025

Sunny Brar, DO
Anesthesiology Residency: SUNY Downstate Medical Center

Daniel Camras MD
Anesthesiology Residency: Montefiore Medical Center

2022-2023

Daniel Amor, MD: Currently: Faculty at Mount Sinai West/ Mount Sinai Morningside Hospitals Anesthesiology Residency: Mount Sinai West/ Mount Sinai Morningside Hospitals

Rutuja Sikachi, MD: Currently: Faculty at Long Island Jewish Medical Center Anesthesiology Residency: Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell Program

2021-2022

Janet Hong, MD
Currently: Faculty at Mount Sinai West/ Mount Sinai Morningside Hospitals
Anesthesiology Residency: Mount Sinai West/ Mount Sinai Morningside Hospitals

Usama Siddique, MD
Currently: Private Practice at St John's Riverside Hospital, Northwell
Anesthesiology Residency: Stony Brook Medicine/University Hospital Program

2020-2021

Samiat Jinadu, MD
Currently: Academic Practice at the University of Oregon
Anesthesiology Residency: Mount Sinai West/Mount Sinai Morningside Hospitals

Tae Lee, MD
Currently: Private Practice in Paoli, Pennsylvania
Anesthesiology Residency: New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell

2019-2020

Sonya Bohaczuk, MD
Currently: Private Practice at White Plains Hospital
Anesthesiology Residency: University of Miami

Jamie Metesky, MD
Anesthesiology Residency: Mount Sinai West/Mount Sinai Morningside Hospitals

2018-2019

Poonam Pai, MD
Associate Fellowship Program Director, Assistant Professor, Mount Sinai Morningside and Mount Sinai West

Haider Al Darkazali, MD
Academic Practice at the University of Iowa

2017-2018

Dina Diskina, MD
Academic Practice at the New York University

2016-2017

Shrenik Shah, MD
Private Practice in San Francisco

2015-2016

John Hernandez, MD
Private Practice in Miami