Your Learning Experience

In our residency programme, you will spend five years acquiring the skills, knowledge, and expertise essential for the practice of modern evidence-based anaesthesia. Drawing upon the vast resources of SingHealth and the mentorship of our experienced faculty, you will learn to care for an extremely diverse and challenging patient population. Here, you will find a culture of teaching and active learning that occurs in both the clinical setting and classrooms. 

Your residency experience is gained systematically through a block rotation system. Progression from one post-graduate year to the next involves a graduated increase in responsibility at each residency level. This will be commensurate with the advancement of your skills, knowledge and clinical acumen. The curriculum also incorporates an elective period when you opt to pursue your very own clinical or research interests.

Posting Block Diagram

Rotations featured

Cardiothoracic Anaesthesia

The National Heart Centre’s (NHC) department of Cardiothoracic Anaesthesia comprises specialists who constantly work towards providing the highest standard of perioperative care to patients presenting for a wide variety of cardiothoracic procedures. Being a part of the largest national centre for cardiovascular medicine promises exposure to a wealth of clinical material and abundant opportunities to learn and gain experience. The case mix ranges from routine coronary artery bypass grafting and valve surgery, to more complex aortic aneurysm repairs, correction of adult congenital heart defects, insertion of ventricular assist devices (VADs) and anaesthetic support for cardiac procedures in the cardiovascular laboratory. New state-of-the art procedures are constantly being introduced, such as robotic cardiothoracic surgery and Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) done in our hybrid operating theatre.

SingHealth also has the largest thoracic surgical centre in Singapore and is a regional referral site for complex thoracic surgical procedures. Residents in our programme will see the whole gamut of challenging thoracic cases from extra-pleural pneumonectomy, mediastinal mass excision to airway laser surgery and tracheal resections. 

Residents will have ample opportunities to learn and practice insertion of invasive lines such as arterial lines, central venous catheters, thoracic epidurals, double lumen tubes, and bronchial blockers, as well as gain a basic understanding of intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography, fiberoptic bronchoscopy, and jet ventilation.

As part of the national heart and lung transplantation programme, SingHealth residents will have the opportunity to assist faculty in these complex and challenging transplantations. Additional learning through consultant and trainee presentations during the Cardiothoracic Service Education and Research Forum (cSERF) will be carried out on a monthly basis. This provides a platform for discussion of updates and current practices.

Intensive Care Medicine

Anaesthesiology residents will be rotated through the Surgical ICU, Neurosurgical ICU and Burns ICU in SGH, Surgical ICU in CGH, and the mixed Medical-Surgical ICU in SKH, gaining hands-on experience and comprehensive training in managing complex critical care conditions. The faculty in these units consist of consultant intensivists who have undergone Intensive Care Medicine fellowship training and obtained post-graduate qualifications in Europe, Australia and the USA.

Residents will be able to develop competence in the diagnosis and management of a broad spectrum of critical illnesses across different specialties; enhance procedural skills in critical care techniques, such as advanced airway management, central venous catheterization, arterial cannulation, bedside ultrasonography, bronchoscopy and advanced hemodynamic monitoring; and foster a holistic approach to patient care, emphasizing the importance of communication with patients and their families, especially in decision making and end-of-life discussions. Through being an integral part of the multidisciplinary ICU and Code Blue teams, residents will also be able to cultivate leadership skills necessary for effective team management, including conflict resolution, team coordination and decision-making under pressure. This practical experience is complemented by a comprehensive teaching programme consisting of regular didactic sessions, such as Journal Clubs. department-based and programme-based teaching, Grand Ward Rounds, simulation sessions, and Morbidity and Mortality rounds.

Neuroanaesthesia

Neuroanaesthesia in SingHealth offers many of the newest techniques and cutting-edge care for a wide variety of neurosurgical diseases. Residents will work in the intraoperative MRI OT, and the intraoperative CT OT. Besides providing anaesthetic care for tumour surgery, vascular surgery (such as aneurysms and arteriovenous malformations), major base of skull tumours, spine surgery and emergency neurosurgery, new advancements have enabled us to perform awake craniotomies with high field MRI surveillance and Deep Brain Stimulation. 

Obstetric Anaesthesia

KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital is the only integrated obstetric care centre in Singapore, with more than 14,000 deliveries a year. The Department of Women’s Anaesthesia at KKH provides a comprehensive and integrated Obstetric Anaesthesia residency rotation with ample clinical exposure under specialist mentorship, encompassing all aspects of obstetric anaesthesia for labour and Caesarean delivery. Complex patients are managed through a multidisciplinary team approach consisting maternal fetal specialists, neonatologists, and anaesthesiologists. 

Educational activities include problem-based learning programme conducted by specialist faculty with emphasis on current evidence-based clinical care. Residents will experience CORE (Combined Obstetric Resuscitation and Emergencies) training, unique to our institution, organized in collaboration with the obstetric team. Obstetric drills and simulation-based scenarios targeted to obstetric, anaesthesia and neonatal emergencies complement problem-based teaching.

The Department of Women’s Anaesthesia is recognized as one of the premier anaesthesia research institutions in the nation, with many practice changing publications. Residents can participate in research with experienced mentorship and will find a helpful and cooperative environment for designing and conducting research protocols on their own.

Paediatric Anaesthesia

KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital is the only institution in Singapore that sees the highest volume and load of paediatric patients undergoing surgical procedures or medical interventions that require care by anaesthesiologists. This translates into the opportunity to see a large variety of paediatric patients and neonates, some of whom have complex medical problems and special anaesthetic considerations. The rotation also provides opportunities for exposure to remote anaesthesia for paediatric patients.

There is a strong emphasis on quality teaching for our residents, including the use of simulation and a strong research culture with ample opportunities for residents to participate in such activities. The department also supports overseas medical mission trips on a regular basis and interested residents may have opportunities to get involved.

Pain Medicine

During the Pain Medicine residency rotations, residents will play an integral role in the comprehensive Acute Pain Service which provides round the clock service to our patients in acute pain, most typically post-surgical pain. This is done through various means and devices including Patient-Controlled-Analgesia pumps, epidurals, or nerve blocks. 

Residents will also assist our Pain specialists in managing patients suffering from chronic and cancer pain caused by a variety of conditions. Some of these pain syndromes include headaches, orofacial pain, neck and back pain, herniated discs, arthritis, myofascial pain, postherpetic neuralgia, chronic post-surgical or post-traumatic pain, complex regional pain syndrome, painful diabetic neuropathy and cancer pain through a holistic multi-modal and multi-disciplinary approach, with colleagues from Psychiatry, Psychology, and Physiotherapy.

Residents will be exposed to a comprehensive range of procedures for patients with chronic pain, such as epidural injections, nerve blocks, trigger point injections, radiofrequency thermoablation, neurostimulation as well as intrathecal drug delivery system.

Regional Anaesthesia

SingHealth has the largest orthopaedic, hand and vascular surgery services in Singapore. As such, opportunities to perform regional anaesthesia are tremendous. The large volume of cases done under regional anaesthesia allows residents to become proficient with more advanced regional anaesthesia techniques.

Airway Management

Residents on this rotation will become proficient with strategies and skills for managing the difficult airway, including fibreoptic bronchoscopy, anaesthetizing the airway and performing awake intubations. The numerous advanced airway devices available, such as the McGrath, Glidescope, Pentax airway scope, BONFILS, Trachlight, and C-Trach, allow residents to develop an extensive repertoire of knowledge and skills in airway management, under the tutelage of our many airway experts.

Pre-operative Evaluation

Residents rotating through the pre-operative evaluation clinic will learn how to comprehensively assess patients before surgery, ensuring that they are medically and emotionally prepared for surgery. Residents learn the principles of peri-operative risk stratification in a data-driven approach, appropriate laboratory testing and interpretation, as well as adopt a multidisciplinary and holistic approach to optimization of patients for surgery.

Ambulatory Anaesthesia

The goal of this rotation is to acquire the knowledge and skills to meet the needs of ambulatory surgery patients. This is a multidisciplinary process, and the residents learn about pre-operative evaluation, intra-operative care aimed at rapid recovery with minimal side effects and post operative management to enhance prompt discharge and return to normal function.