OHSU Anesthesiology

[Brules_Rules]

I was curious if anyone had any current thoughts or details on OHSU’s anesthesiology residency. I know there was a lot of controversy with the abrupt firing of the prior chair (Dr. Kirsch) a couple years back, and while I dont know the specifics of this, have gathered he was extremely well liked by residents and that his demotion had something to do with a dispute with the surgery department (who the administration ultimately sided with). Now that the dust has settled a little bit it seems like things are back on track, and I very much enjoyed my interview with the program director and faculty this year. However, I’m unsure if the unceremonious and sudden firing of the prior department chair represents a red flag for this program. As an applicant looking in from the outside this strikes me as a major sign of disrespect toward the anesthesiology department as a whole by the university administration (and really makes it seem like they don’t value the program at all), but I was curious if any current residents or faculty had any insight on this in 2021.

 

[coffeebythelake]

I was curious if anyone had any current thoughts or details on OHSU’s anesthesiology residency. I know there was a lot of controversy with the abrupt firing of the prior chair (Dr. Kirsch) a couple years back, and while I dont know the specifics of this, have gathered he was extremely well liked by residents and that his demotion had something to do with a dispute with the surgery department (who the administration ultimately sided with). Now that the dust has settled a little bit it seems like things are back on track, and I very much enjoyed my interview with the program director and faculty this year. However, I’m unsure if the unceremonious and sudden firing of the prior department chair represents a red flag for this program. As an applicant looking in from the outside this strikes me as a major sign of disrespect toward the anesthesiology department as a whole by the university administration (and really makes it seem like they don’t value the program at all), but I was curious if any current residents or faculty had any insight on this in 2021.

I don't have any direct knowledge of what happened at OHSU, but I agree with your analysis.
If the chair of anesthesia can be fired because of some dispute with the surgeons, expect you will be treated like a disposable tool.

 

[ethilo]

I was a CA-3 at OHSU in my last month of residency when Kirsch was fired. I remember it very well, essentially the whole department felt as though our feet were swept out from underneath us. I think it was like Monday we were all carrying along like normal then Tuesday all of a sudden our chair was removed, out of the blue. We were given little to no information about the circumstances behind the action. The emergency town hall address held by Dr Anderson who fired Kirsch was... challenging and not very informative. Many attendings and residents were infuriated. A handful of attendings ended up leaving as a result. The interim chair position went to Dr Steve Robinson who is one of the cardiac anesthesiologists and a great leader by his own right.

As far as I know, the decapitation of our department was more about him than it was about our department. Our department has historically been strong, it was a fantastic place to train. Kirsch was and still is loved and adored by all. A common sentiment is that we chose to go to OHSU because of him.

After we had a few meetings in the wake of this event, I think we all agreed that OHSU anesthesiology is more than just Dr Kirsch. He was a part of my training but there are so many more amazing people and experiences that persist despite his absence. The residency and the department is made up of highly skilled diverse people, a lot of which ARE there BECAUSE of Kirsch, AND are still present.

As far as I am concerned, the politics about the change of the chair should not reflect on the training you would get as a resident at OHSU.