Curriculum

The SHANA Education Board strongly encourages the development of a structured, up-to-date, evidence-based teaching curriculum in head and neck anesthesia and difficult airway management for the trainees rotating through head and neck anesthesia service. The Education Board emphasizes that elective teaching of advanced airway management devices and techniques requires proper patient selection, a non-hurried teaching environment, good clinical judgment, expert faculty, and direct supervision by the attending anesthesiologist.

The Education Board encourages including the following main sections in the curriculum:

1. The surgical overview of the most commonly performed head and neck surgical procedures, and the surgeon’s perspective on intraoperative management.
2. The anesthesiologist’s perspective on the general principles of head and neck anesthesia.
3. The overview of anesthetic management of the most commonly performed head and neck surgical procedures.
4. The pharmacokinetic principles of opioid infusions and total intravenous anesthesia.
5. The principles and practice of controlled hypotension.
6. The detailed approach to the American Society of Anesthesia (ASA) Difficult Airway Algorithm.
7. The comprehensive description of the mainstream, advanced airway management devices and techniques.

Individual head and neck anesthesia services in training institutions are encouraged to develop additional teaching curricula. 

The Education Board highly encourages the development of high impact learning modules, which would include case studies/discussions, learning videos of critical procedures, and simulation scenarios. The Education Board also strongly recommends a development of a concise, practical education guide in head and neck anesthesia, which can be used at the point of clinical care.