Clinical Curriculum
Clinical Overview
- State of the art simulation lab used to teach and reinforce basic and advanced anesthesia concepts and technical skills
- Clinical Curriculum occurs within ECU Health, a regional health system serving 29 counties in eastern North Carolina, providing healthcare for 1.4 million people.
- Primary site is ECU Health Medical Center, the flag-ship hospital . A state-of-the-art Trauma Hospital with more than 900 licensed beds..
- Students receive month-long rotations in anesthesia specialty areas including obstetrical, neuro, pediatric, and intensive cardiovascular anesthesia experiences with high-acuity patients
- Clinical rotations at busy pain clinic and surgicenter
- No travel requirements outside the area
- Affiliate Hospitals (short term elective rotations) provide excellent opportunities for learning regional anesthesia (housing provided during these elective rotations)
- 1:1 MD or CRNA to student ratio in the clinical areas
Some of Our Clinical Sites
- ECU Health Medical Center
- East Carolina Heart Institute
- ECU Health Roanoke-Chowan Hospital: Ahoski
- ECU Health Chowan Hospital Edenton
- ECU Health SurgiCenter
- ECU Health Pain Management Center
The majority (about 90%) of the clinical instruction takes place at ECU Health SurgiCenter and ECU Health Medical Center, an over 900 bed, level I medical center that is within walking distance of our classrooms. Here the students learn to administer general and regional anesthesia to a variety of patients for all surgical specialties including cardiac, vascular, obstetrical, pediatric, and neurosurgery cases.
In addition, senior students are scheduled for elective short rotations at our satellite rotations to gain more experience with anesthesia in rural settings and with regional anesthesia techniques. Housing is provided and there are no additional housing expenses during these rotations. Below is a description of some of our clinical sites.
ECU Health Medical Center, one of four academic medical centers in North Carolina, is the flagship hospital for ECU Health and serves as the teaching hospital for the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University. ECU Health Medical Center is a regional resource for all levels of health services and information. The hospital is a tertiary referral center and provides acute, intermediate, rehabilitation and outpatient health services to more than 1.4 million people in 29 counties. It is the only level-1 trauma center east of Raleigh. In an average year, about 33,000 inpatients and more than 266,000 outpatients are treated in their facilities. More than 3,000 babies are born here in a typical year. The clinical staff includes more than 500 physicians and 1,200 nurses. The hospital has 24 fully equipped operating rooms, a cystoscopy suite, and 4 fully equipped operative delivery rooms. Clinical education is an important part of this hospital’s mission.
The East Carolina Heart Institute’s mission is to improve North Carolina’s health status through cardiovascular health service delivery, research and education. The institute is the first facility in North Carolina devoted specifically and exclusively to the research, treatment and prevention of cardiovascular diseases. It is a six-story, 375,000 square-foot, 120-bed center with 13 interventional labs and suites of dedicated operating rooms.
ECU Health Roanoke-Chowan Hospital is a 114-bed, not-for-profit hospital located in Ahoskie, NC. This modern facility provides a wide range of health services to about 39,000 residents in the four-county area. As part of ECU Health, they offer a wide range of services at their facilities in Ahoskie and other Hertford County locations.
ECU Health Chowan Hospital has been growing and expanding to serve health needs for more than 60 years. Today, this modern facility, located in historic Edenton, provides services and programs to 45,000 people in four counties. They offer a wide range of services and health care specialties to residents of Chowan and surrounding counties.
ECU Health SurgiCenter provides highly skilled outpatient surgical care in a patient- and family-centered environment. ECU Health SurgiCenter has been serving the people of eastern Carolina for 30 years and is jointly owned and operated by physicians and Vidant Health. The SurgiCenter is a 32,500-square foot, free-standing ambulatory care facility with 10 operating rooms, where physicians perform a wide range of elective outpatient surgical procedures in 10 modern and well-equipped operating suites. They perform more than 12,000 procedures each year, and have the resources of one of the state’s largest health systems and academic medical centers available.
The ECU Health Pain Management Center is a cooperative venture between East Carolina Anesthesia Associates and Vidant Health to provide comprehensive pain management and rehabilitation services to the citizens of eastern North Carolina. East Carolina Pain Consultants, a subdivision of East Carolina Anesthesia Associates, provides over 3500 outpatient interventional procedures a year at the clinic.