Clinical Component

Navigating the Clinical Component

Your clinical work splits between the liver transplant service and the general operating rooms at Ochsner Medical Center. On the liver service, you care for some of the most complex surgical patients in the region, supported by a dedicated team of specialty CRNAs. When you are off the service, you return to a broad general anesthesia practice.

Clinical Snapshot

Primary Focus: Liver transplant anesthesia

Liver Case Staffing: 1 anesthesiologist and 2 specialty CRNAs per case

Case Mix on Service: Liver transplants, liver resections, large general GI cases

Off-Service Practice: Broad general anesthesia

EMR: Epic

Liver Transplant Volume

Patient Population

The program treats patients with end-stage liver disease who are referred from 37 states and other countries.

Many recipients come with added complexity. The surgical team regularly manages:

• Re-transplantation of a previously transplanted liver
• Transplants for patients with obesity
• Transplants for patients with portal vein thrombosis
• Split liver and reduced-size liver transplants
• Living donor liver transplants, where the donor and recipient each receive part of the liver

Liver Service Workflow

Each liver transplant case is staffed by one anesthesiologist and two specialty CRNAs drawn from a group of eight CRNAs dedicated to the liver team. Anesthesiology residents rotate through the liver service for two weeks at a time, so a resident often joins the case as well.

• Normothermic machine perfusion keeps donor livers functioning outside the body and allows lab assessment of viability before transplant
• Anesthesia participates in patient selection meetings with transplant surgeons and transplant hepatologists

General OR Practice

When you are not on the liver service, you maintain a broad general anesthesia caseload. Daily volume, room assignments, and case mix vary with resident or fellow coverage, case complexity, shift timing, and location. The department shapes this part of your practice around the services you want to be involved in.

Teaching and Research

• Anesthesiology residents rotate through the liver service in two-week blocks
• Teaching time on the transplant service is generally minimal and depends on your schedule and services
• Publishing is not required
• Potential academic appointment through Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine, University of Queensland, or Tulane University