
Despite the medical advances of the last 20 years, patients still confront life-threatening challenges in the perioperative and critical care environments; in-patient surgical mortality rates remain unchanged. Moreover, the number of surgical interventions is rising, both because of the aging population, and because improvements in technology and anesthetic management extend care to patients once considered unsuitable. Commensurate with this, demand for critical care is on the rise.
The UCSF Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care strives to address these challenges in three, overlapping ways. First, whether it is in the operating room or in the ICU (our department contains 17 anesthesiologists who are board-certified in critical care), we vow that every patient we see, every time, receives the benefits of the highest-quality care based solidly in science. Second, our prominent research programs keep us integrally involved in the generation, application, and dissemination of the scientific evidence upon which clinical practice is based. And, third, our world-class faculty is educating the next generation of anesthesia leaders, as well as other physicians who can benefit from the anesthesiologist’s broad-based training.
One of the most important advantages we have is that at an institution with the breadth and depth of UCSF, our department can incorporate the most advanced research from other specialty areas as we engage in bi-directional translational research focused on patients in the perioperative and critical care settings. Concentrating on events, such as the pathophysiological processes that follow injury in our domains, will yield diagnostic and therapeutic opportunities that benefit patients enduring similar pathophysiologic processes in other clinical environments. Ultimately, these cross-pollinations can lead to clinically driven, expert protocols that integrate entire episodes of care. Finally, by continuing this department’s tradition of recruiting and retaining the highest caliber faculty - and by continuing to focus on the most rigorous and forward-thinking educational paths, like our Innovative Residencies and Simulation and Clinical Skills Centers - we can continue to attract the best and the brightest residents.
This web site provides an introduction to the exciting work we are pursuing, but we invite you to contact us directly if you have additional questions or concerns.
Mervyn Maze, MB, ChB
Professor and Chair