The Preoperative Assessment Clinic (PAC) is a state-of-the-art facility located on the main campus of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. We are staffed with 8 faculty anesthesiologists, 14 midlevel providers, 8 nurses, 2 pharmacy technicians, 2 receptionists, as well as on-site EKG and lab technicians. The PAC has 14 exam rooms in which we see 75 to 85 patients daily. We provide preoperative evaluation, preparation and education for over 16,000 outpatients and same-day surgery patients each year. We are often in direct contact with a patient’s primary care physician, surgeon and other consultants in an effort to ensure successful perioperative outcomes.
Anesthesiology (CA-1) residents spend a total of 4 weeks in the PAC and perform a vital role in perioperative care by participating in preoperative assessments and patient education. Knowing when to order labs, pulmonary function tests, cardiac exams, specialty consults and how to adjust medication regimens are just a few interventions that can affect a patient’s operative course and outcome. In conjunction with a faculty anesthesiologist, residents will determine how to evaluate and manage patients, from the simplest encounter to the most complex.
As part of the educational process, residents will also have the opportunity to work through a study guide and online quizzes to emphasize the points pertinent to perioperative care. Attending anesthesiologists will have educational presentations that allow for interactive discussion of perioperative medicine.
In addition to the CA-1 resident experience in the PAC, CA-3 residents may choose an elective rotation in Perioperative Medicine. The CA-3 Perioperative elective leverages the senior resident’s experience in perioperative management of patients to a consultant-level role. On this elective rotation, senior residents work alongside internal medicine attending physicians in the PAC in a multidisciplinary fashion to optimize our highest-risk patients ahead of scheduled surgical procedures. Additionally, this rotation incorporates a hands-on didactic program in POCUS techniques and ample opportunity to practice these technical and interpretive skills with oversight from experienced faculty on both preoperative and postoperative patients.