Message from the Program Director

Crystal Manohar, MD,MBA,FASA

My name is Crystal Manohar, and I am the Residency Program Director for the Department of Anesthesiology. The program in San Antonio is a categorical anesthesiology residency that prides itself on our clinical and educational experience. Our program is four years in duration, which includes a transitional internship where our PGY-1 residents rotate through a multitude of specialties, including general surgery, cardiothoracic surgery, ENT, emergency medicine, medicine, cardiology, critical care, pain medicine, and, of course, anesthesiology. Our final month of the PGY-1 year is our “Anesthesiology Boot Camp”, which is designed to provide an intensive clinical exposure paired with salient didactics and cadaver workshops to optimally prepare our incoming CA-1s for the remaining three years of their residency.

The clinical curriculum is designed in such a way to provide a strong basis of knowledge and build upon that with increasing levels of autonomy. Our CA-1s focus on operating room anesthesia both at University Hospital and the Audie Murphy VA Hospital, with subspecialties (neuro, pediatric, and regional anesthesia, and acute pain) being introduced about halfway through the year.  This forms the strong foundation from which to learn the numerous facets of anesthesiology. Our CA-2s become heavily involved in the subspecialties of anesthesiology, including critical care, cardiothoracic, obstetric and hepatobiliary anesthesia and acute and chronic pain.

The CA-3 year is spent perfecting the art and practice of anesthesiology, with focus on supervision of more junior residents and more advanced cases in the ORs and subspecialties.  There is an emphasis on advanced airway and non-operating room anesthesia (NORA).  CA-3 residents also spend one- month participating in a community private practice rotation with the opportunity to select cases pertinent to their future practice and hone their anesthesia skills.  Our goal is to train excellent clinical anesthesiologists who are clinically proficient and academically prepared to become board certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology.

Creating strong physician leaders is a mission of our department. Our innovative, optional Master of Business Administration (MBA) program, offered through partnership with UTSA, is designed to allow residents with an interest in leadership and business administration to explore that avenue during their residency. The program has been crafted to be completed during the residency program, starting during the CA-2 year and ending in May of the CA-3 year. For those who are not pursing the MBA, we have incorporated a business lecture series into our annual didactic program to cultivate these skills, although in a less intensive format than the formal Masters degree.  These didactic sessions are led by Dr. Rosinia, our department chair and integrate resident participation. Our goal is not only to train excellent anesthesiologists, but also the next leaders of our field.

The Department of Anesthesiology will be interviewing for our 16 PGY-1 positions in this year’s NRMP match to include 2 active duty spots for military—only program in the country with this opportunity.  Please feel free to reach out to me, our education team, or our chief residents with any questions that you may have. Hope to see you (virtually) this interview season!

Sincerely,

Crystal Manohar, MD,MBA,FASA
Residency Program Director