Regional and Acute Pain Anesthesiology Post COVID-19 Assessment and Recommendations for Fellowship Web Based Platforms

Vladislav Pavlovich Zhitny,1,2 Enes Djesevic,3 Gemma Lagasca,3 Aziza Dhalai,3 Brian J Mendelson4 1New York University, Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care and Pain Medicine, New York City, NY, USA; 2Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Las Vegas, NV, USA; 3Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, USA; 4Cedar-Sinai Medical Center, Department of Regional Anesthesia and Acute Pain Management, Los Angeles, CA, USACorrespondence: Vladislav Pavlovich Zhitny, New York University, Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care and Pain Medicine, 5578 Victoria Regina Avenue, Las Vegas, Nevada, 89139, USA, Email zhitnyv@unlv.nevada.eduAbstract: In today’s applicant landscape, the SARS-COV-2 pandemic has drastically altered the traditional model of in-person interviews shifting it to an online format often conducted by web-based applications. Fellowship programs and naturally fellowship program directors face a new challenge of standardizing information to be distributed to prospective fellowship applicants through American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA) common application. Here we describe a set of 11 criteria recommended by other similar studies selected for evaluation of online program training platforms, where only 13.3% of the acute and regional pain fellowship program online platforms met 75% of the criteria with limited presence in areas of research, rotation schedules, list of fellows, alumni, and life in the area. Additional considerations pertaining to the types of procedures performed, evaluation, mentorship, academic involvement, and teaching should be undertaken by the programs.Keywords: regional anesthesia, acute pain anesthesiology, graduate medical education, SARS-COV-2