Dear Applicants,

Welcome to the University of Kansas Anesthesiology Residency Program! Thank you for your interest in our program!

The University of Kansas Hospital is a 900-bed tertiary care academic medical center, a Level 1 trauma center, an NCI-designated cancer center, and the region’s only complex burn center. We perform nearly three hundred anesthetics per day across several clinical sites. Our clinical training incorporates every component of the hospital’s robust case-mix and allows residents to care for a broad spectrum of diverse patients undergoing an equally diverse array of procedures.

Our residency training begins with a categorical internship year in the Internal Medicine department, where PGY-1 residents are exposed to various areas of clinical medicine integral to anesthesiology, including cardiology, pulmonology, general medicine wards, critical care, emergency medicine, and more, as well as elective weeks in acute pain anesthesia and ENT/laryngology. The perennial highlight of intern year, “anesthesia bootcamp,” occurs at the end of the academic year where PGY-1 residents are paired up with a senior resident in the OR, the labor and delivery unit, and perioperative services. Daily lectures from faculty and senior residents on the fundamentals of anesthesia provide our interns with the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed as a new CA-1 starting in July.

During our clinical anesthesiology years (CA-1, 2, and 3), our program offers early exposure to subspecialty rotations, including pediatrics, obstetrics, cardiac, critical care, regional, transplant, chronic pain and neuroanesthesia, each by the conclusion of our CA-1 year. Our residents identify their subspecialty interests early enough to prepare their applications for fellowship training. Our CA-2 and CA-3 years are spent further honing skills at the main hospital and our affiliated clinical sites, including our ambulatory surgery centers (Indian Creek and KU MedWest), Children’s Mercy Hospital, Advent Health Shawnee Mission (private practice OB), and the Kansas City VA. We offer a robust academic curriculum, including weekly lectures on diagnostic point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS - Mondays), case conferences (Tuesdays), transesophageal echocardiography (TEE - Wednesdays), pertinent board review topics (Keywords - Thursdays), and class-specific lectures (Fridays). Our residents are consistently competitive candidates for jobs and fellowship programs and enter their careers and post-graduate training well-prepared to serve as perioperative consultants.

Our department strongly encourages residents to seek out other academic interests. Elective rotations pursued by previous residents have included: international anesthesia rotations in Ghana and Peru, serving as a Policy Research Scholar with the American Society of Anesthesiologists, participating in funded clinical or bench research, and participating on national committees with the ASA and the ACGME. In addition, we provide strong institutional support for resident scholarly activity, including presentations at several national meetings throughout the year and peer-reviewed scientific journal publications.

Last, but not least, we must highlight beautiful Kansas City! Our city has consistently been ranked as one of the best and most livable metropolitan areas in the United States. You will find that the cost of living in Kansas City is incomparable in the US and in the Midwest specifically. Our city offers fantastic fine and casual dining, world-class professional and collegiate athletics, and a variety of arts and entertainment options for all ages. With top-notch school systems, we are constantly ranked as one of the top 5 cities to start and raise a family. We boast a tight-knit residency program that loves to spend time together outside of work and enjoy all that Kansas City has to offer. Please check out the rest of our website to learn more about the fun activities our residents have been enjoying recently. Every month, our residents get together outside of work for a program-sponsored social event.

Choosing the right residency program for you is an important decision, and we are excited to show you the incredible training and community that KU provides! Please feel free to contact us directly at with any questions.

Best Regards,

Blake Evans, M.D. & Taylor Leathers, M.D.
Chief Residents, Department of Anesthesiology
University of Kansas School of Medicine