HISTORY OF THE DEPARTMENT
The Department of Anesthesiology was established as an independent
department onNovember 1, 1968, with Dr. Charles P. Boyan as the first
Chairperson.
Dr. Boyan established and developed an outstanding Department
until he retired as Chair in 1981 and the leadership was assumed by Dr.
Richard L. Keenan, a close friend and collaborator of Dr. Boyan for many years.
After eleven years as Chairperson, Dr. Keenan stepped down and Dr. Surinder Kallar
was appointed Interim Chairperson on December 1992. Later, on August 1995, Dr.
Wayne Marshall was appointed Chairperson and he remained in that position until
August 1999. I assumed as Interim Chair at that time and became the Chairperson
in July 2000.
THE DEPARTMENT TODAY
From the beginning, the Department has been committed to the delivery of
the best possible anesthetic care to the citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia
using the team care model, advancing the knowledge of the specialty and
educating superb anesthesiologists. We are extremely proud of the more than 300
anesthesiologists that trained in our institution and have spread all over the
country to practice our specialty. The Department stresses the importance of
being a good citizen of the institution and fosters community service at the
local, national and international level.
The residents are trained at VCU Medical Center and at the Hunter Holmes McGuire
Veterans Administration Hospital. The hospital is a tertiary care center with more than 700 beds and is designated a Level I Trauma Center. We have the oldest continuously
functioning Burn Unit of the Commonwealth, and we provide in excess of 20,000
anesthetics per year, extending to all aspects of life. The main operating room
suite includes 24 operating locations and the Ambulatory Surgery Center has
additional six operating rooms. In addition, we provide anesthesia care in 13
remote locations within the Medical Center.
We have an active Obstetrical Service,
all types of pediatric care, a large solid organ transplantation program, an
increasingly active cardiothoracic service, including total artificial heart
implantation. The emergency room is extremely busy and our trauma service
is large and nationally recognized.
In November 2008 we opened a new facility, the Critical Care
Hospital, located in physical continuity to the Main Hospital. This 14-floor
facility includes 10 state of the art operating rooms and nine floors dedicated
to critical care. Each floor has 28 individual patient rooms, equipped with the
most advance equipment and monitors.
The VCU Medical Center is a highly wired institution
and the Anesthesia Department uses automated anesthesia record-keepers in every
location. The McGuire VA Hospital is a modern facility with an active
surgical program. In addition to operating room experience in general surgery,
ENT, urology, vascular and cardiovascular surgery, our residents rotate through
the Chronic Pain Clinic.
There is tremendous dedication to education at all levels, including
undergraduate students of our university, medical students, residents and
faculty development. 
In the medical school we participate actively from the
first year through lectures, mentoring, Anesthesia interest group, etc. Eighty
fourth-year medical students spend one month elective rotation in the
Department every year. The educational efforts for residents are matched by a
very active faculty development program. We are very involved in the
institution simulation center and we are recognized for our involvement in
patient safety and education.
There are many research opportunities in the Department. We have funded
research in the study and treatment of decompression sickness, sickle cell
disease, anesthesia preconditioning, etc. The Department has maintained a
database of anesthetic cases for more than 25 years and we have active research
in data mining and medical informatics. In addition, we have started
investigating human factors in anesthesia as well as the development and
application of new information technologies.
We welcome your inquiries about the Department and positions available.
CHAIR'S MESSAGE
