Marc E. Koch, MD, MBA, FASA
November 3, 2021

Life’s journey is usually not a straight line, but often a circuitous route with many stops and starts along the way.

By way of example, some anesthesiologists have taken time off from their profession, perhaps to raise a family, or perhaps pursue other activities in life such as in business, retail, or other non-medical efforts. Additionally, there are many anesthesia clinicians that have decided to provide care in ambulatory settings such as in GI suites or cataract centers. Finally, we have some colleagues who, through no fault of their own, or because of imperfect decisions, find themselves in need of a structured and formal program to meet the conditions of prescribed course of action outlined by a regulatory agency.

These three cohorts of clinicians oftentimes face formidable challenges when they try to re-enter the hospital arena. Often their knowledge, competency, and skills have waned since departing from the field or hospital-based anesthesia. The Anesthesia Remediation and Refresher Program, as the name suggests, offers the opportunity of a fresh start or the rekindling of existing knowledge with new information and practices.

As the shortage for anesthesiologists has grown through the years and is projected to continue increasing, we are charged to find solutions to keep up with demand. Identifying what is needed to bring more anesthesiologists into the field was the inevitable first step to devising a solution to the matter. Our answer to the challenge is the ARRP program- one centered in tailoring the learner’s experience to fill the void in knowledge, competency, and skills needed to bring them back to practicing anesthesiology safely and successfully.

Enrollees of the Anesthesia Remediation and Refresher Program can expect to participate in problem-based learning discussions, didactic lectures, hands-on patient care, among other activities, while they’re supervised to ensure competency-based progression and completion. Enrollees are also asked to commit a year to the program, though it may take less or more time to complete, depending on their needs, to be successfully integrated back into practicing anesthesia.

To become a participant of the ARRP, applicants must have completed their residency and be ABA Board Certified (unless the reason for participating in the program is for certification process or maintenance), complete an application process, and participate in several hours of interviews.

If you’d like to learn more about this amazing program, follow this link to the NUMC ARRP website, and watch the presentation given at the ASA Annual Meeting 2021 about the program below.