Liver Transplant Anesthesia Fellowship

Overview

The Cleveland Clinic Department of Anesthesiology offers two positions for this one-year non-ACGME accredited fellowship in Liver Transplantation Anesthesiology. The primary goal of this program is to prepare fellows to become leaders in Liver Transplantation Anesthesiology and an academic career that focuses on the perioperative care of high-acuity abdominal organ transplants (liver, small bowel and multi-visceral) and non-transplant surgery for patients with hepatic/pancreatic/biliary disease. Cleveland Clinic is well-equipped to accomplish this with 19 transplant anesthesiologists at Main Campus performing over 240 liver, intestinal and multivisceral transplants per year.

Fellows will:

• Primarily participate in perioperative management of liver transplant patients, including invasive line placement, hemodynamic management, management of coagulopathy using thromboelastography, transesophageal echocardiography, and veno-venous bypass.
• Participate in intestinal, multivisceral (liver, intestine, pancreas) transplants and major hepatobiliary procedures as well as combined cardiac and liver transplant cases (concomitant CABG and OLT, valve surgery and OLT, combined lung, heart and liver transplants).
• Be involved in the multidisciplinary pre-operative evaluation of liver transplant candidates.
• Participate in the liver transplant selection committee meetings with staff.

Jacek Cywinski, MD
Program Director, Liver Transplantation Anesthesiology Fellowship
Phone: 216.444.2305
Email: cywinsj@ccf.org

John Seif, MD, MBA
Associate Program Director, Liver Transplantation Anesthesiology Fellowship
Phone: 216.444.5358
Email: SEIFJ@ccf.org

Andrew Sadouskas, PhD
Program Coordinator, Liver Transplantation Anesthesiology Fellowship
Phone: 216.374.4930
Email: LTAfellowship@ccf.org
9500 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44195

Highlights

• Wealth and complexity of cases.
• Dedicated and experienced faculty.
• Ample opportunities to develop a research portfolio including involvement in departmental research projects and protected research time- one day/week during Liver Transplantation Anesthesiology rotation.
• 2024-2025 salary: $74,890.
• Institutional Funding up to $2,500 to present at a conference and $1,000 for educational expenses.
• $60/month on-call meal allowance.
• 20 paid days off per year.
• Involvement in resident teaching.
• Opportunity for qualified candidates to work as an attending (Limited Clinical Practitioner) supervising residents and CRNAs one day per week.
• Elective rotations including Regional Anesthesia and Acute Pain Management, Pulmonary Hypertension, and MICU Liver Unit

Rotations and Structure

Fellowship Rotations

Elective options - We offer a range of options for the elective rotation depending on the fellow’s interest including Regional Anesthesia and Acute Pain Management, Pulmonary Hypertension, MICU Liver Unit, and Research.

*Fellows get one research day per week during the Liver Transplantation Anesthesiology rotation.

Call Responsibility

During the Liver Transplantation Anesthesiology rotation, fellows will alternate liver call days and each take two weekends of call per month.

Procedure Requirements

Education & Didactics

• Multidisciplinary lectures
• Weekly Wednesday morning Anesthesiology Grand Rounds
• Quarterly Journal Club
• Monthly M&M
• Adverse Event meetings

Application Process

Interested applicants should be motivated to pursue a career in this specialty and possess strong and professional verbal and written communication skills. Two fellows are selected for this program each academic year. International Medical Graduates are encouraged to apply.

To apply, please send a completed application package to Andrew Sadouskas (LTAfellowship@ccf.org), program coordinator. An application package includes the following documents:

• Application form (Please download and complete)
• Personal Statement
• Curriculum Vitae
• USMLE and in-training scores
• List of scholarly activity
• ECFMG Certificate (if applicable)
• Three letters of recommendation (one must be from the residency Program Director)

Fellows

Fellows 2025 – 2026

Chinnarat Pongpruksa, MD (graduating July 2026)

• Medical School: Mahidol University, Salaya Thailand
• Residency: Rajavithi Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand

Alumni: Where are they now?

2020 – 2026

Mohab Abdelmalek

• Staff Anesthesiologist, Division of Multi-Specialty Anesthesiology, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA

Anna Maria Nuti

• Assistant Professor and Anesthesiologist, Columbia University Irvine Medical Center, New York, NY, USA

Marielle Sakr

• Clinical Fellow, Neuroanesthesiology Fellowship, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA

Anthony Divito, MD

• Staff Anesthesiologist, and Liver Transplantation Anesthesiology Faculty, Division of Multi-Specialty Anesthesiology, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA

Ahmad Mousa, MD

• Clinical Fellow, Pediatric Anesthesiology, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA

Vanessa Bou Sleiman, MD

• Staff Anesthesiologist, and Liver Transplantation Anesthesiology Faculty, Division of Multi-Specialty Anesthesiology, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA

Snigdha Parikh, DO

• Staff Anesthesiologist, Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center, Oregon Anesthesiology Group, Portland, OR, USA

Lusine Israelyan, MD

• Resident, Anesthesiology, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA

Faculty

• Program Director: Jacek Cywinski, MD, FASA
• Associate Program Director: John Seif, MD, MBA
• Santhalakshmi Angappan, MD
• Maged Argalious, MD, MSc, MBA, MEd, FASE, FASA
• Gausan Ratna Bajracharya, MD
• Jean Beresian, MD
• Vanessa Bou Sleiman, MD
• Praveen Chahar, MD, FCARCSI
• Anthony Divito, MD
• Sam Gumbert, MD
• Samuel Irefin, MD
• Joti Juneja Mucci, MD
• Allen Keebler, DO
• Sandeep Khanna, MD
• Trisha McGinnis, DO
• Omar Omar, MD
• Matthew Serna, MD
• Dmitry Sharakou, MD, PhD
• Claudene Vlah, MD

Resources

Training at Cleveland Clinic

We invite you to explore our Graduate Medical Education website to discover the reasons why Cleveland Clinic offers an ideal teaching and learning environment as well as to learn more about our rich tradition of excellence in the “education of those who serve.”

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