Mayo Clinic's Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine cares for more than 145,000 patients each year. More than 170 anesthesiologists, who are specialized into divisions, practice at Mayo Clinic's campus in Rochester, Minnesota. The obstetric anesthesiology service is covered 24 hours per day, seven days per week by a defined group of specialty-trained physicians dedicated to the anesthetic care of mothers and their babies.

Department members are organized into subspecialty groups, each focusing on a segment of anesthesiology. Their expertise is a resource for everyone, enabling the department to stay at the forefront of the specialty. Subspecialty areas include:

• Cardiovascular diseases
• Ear, nose and throat surgery
• General surgery
• Intensive care
• Neurosurgery
• Nonoperating Room Anesthesia
• Obstetrics
• Orthopedics
• Pain medicine
• Pediatrics
• Plastic surgery
• Thoracic surgery
• Transplantation
• Urology

Facilities

The Obstetric Anesthesiology group practices mainly in the Mayo Clinic Family Birth Center, which is located at Mayo Clinic Hospital — Rochester, Methodist Campus, and averages about 2,500 deliveries per year.

High-risk cesarean deliveries and most fetal surgeries are performed in the main operating rooms in the Rochester Methodist facility. Occasionally, cesarean deliveries for extremely high-risk mothers or babies are performed at Mayo Clinic Hospital — Rochester, Saint Marys Campus, and you would participate in these.

Learn more about our campus facilities in Rochester.

Faculty

In addition to caring for patients in clinical practice, Mayo Clinic's faculty is committed to teaching and facilitating the growth of medical knowledge. Many of our faculty members have published and lectured extensively and are highly regarded in their fields. You work closely with these individuals throughout your training in the Obstetric Anesthesiology Fellowship.

Advisers and mentors

Faculty advisers are available to provide comprehensive educational advice and personal support. You meet with your adviser periodically throughout the program to review your progress and career goals, and ensure that your educational needs are being met. Also, your adviser may serve as a contact point for introducing you and your family to the community of Rochester, Minnesota, and the Mayo Clinic system.

Visiting professors

Many prominent professors visit Mayo Clinic each year. They present their work during lectures, participate in hospital rounds and have informal discussions with trainees. You are encouraged to take full advantage of these educational opportunities.

From the program director

Thank you for your interest in the Obstetric Anesthesiology Fellowship at Mayo Clinic's campus in Rochester, Minnesota! The field of obstetric anesthesiology offers an anesthesiologist a career of significant purpose and great joy. Our obstetric anesthesiology faculty commends your interest in this exciting field.

As maternal morbidity and mortality rise in the United States, an anesthesiologist's role in the care of pregnant patients cannot be overstated. Our one-year program is uniquely designed to provide unparalleled clinical experience in the care of high-risk pregnant patients and their babies.

Patients travel to Mayo Clinic from all over the world seeking care for their uniquely complex health conditions. This, along with transfers of pregnant women from hospitals throughout the Midwest, results in an incredible opportunity for you to learn to care for the sickest pregnant patients. Mayo's busy Maternal Fetal Medicine service and Fetal Care Center, which performs numerous fetal surgeries annually, serve to further your educational opportunities.

Our faculty is passionate about the field of obstetric anesthesia and about educating the next generation of obstetric anesthesiologists. We are highly engaged in advancing the field through research and in our subspecialty society, the Society for Obstetric Anesthesiology and Perinatology. We will work closely with you to develop your research skills and projects.

Our multidisciplinary, team-oriented environment in our labor and delivery unit is second to none, and our faculty is dedicated to helping you learn to develop your communication and leadership skills enabling you to lead your own obstetric anesthesiology service in the future.

Come join our team and learn to become a skilled researcher and leader in the field of obstetric anesthesiology, while providing unparalleled care to uniquely high-risk parturients and their babies.

Emily Sharpe, M.D.
Obstetric Anesthesiology Fellowship Director