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Working at Harborview
HMC prides itself on a special esprit-de-corps and positive attitude. We enjoy what we do, we enjoy each other, and we work together toward a common goal. The teaching component is considered vital, and many faculty regard it as one their main aims. Residents work hard but, in the process, they see a lot, do a lot, and develop self-confidence.
Introduction by the Chief of Service at Harborview
Harborview Medical Center is a major health-care facility for the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. HMC is unique in that it is the only Level 1 trauma center in Washington; it receives all the tertiary trauma referrals from Idaho, Montana, and Alaska. Internationally, HMC has achieved recognition for trauma management, orthopedics, burn surgery, neurosurgery, and paramedic services. The State of Washington regularly reviews HMC and provides substantial support.
The anesthesia services provided at HMC offer a wealth of training experience in an atmosphere of high morale and genuine friendship. At the completion of their time at HMC, residents are experienced at difficult cases of all kinds: seriously ill trauma victims; neuroanesthesia for head injuries, aneurysms, and AVMs; anesthesia for burns (HMC has one of the busiest burn centers in the world); complex orthopedic procedures; and patients with airway problems. Our residency graduates are experts at fiberoptic intubations and related techniques, due in part to exposure to difficult airways at HMC.
Skills gained include extensive exposure in limb-block techniques, neuraxial blockade, and invasive vascular monitoring. The pain relief service is a busy teaching and working unit that has won awards of excellence. The pain relief service typically sees 1000 patients in more than 5000 visits and performs many procedures; a large percentage of the patients are critically ill.
The anesthetizing locations in the hospital include seventeen O.R.s, the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU), a burn O.R. for debridement and minor procedures in the Burn Center, and out-of-OR ansthetics in the Gamma Knife suite, angiography, MRI, or CT-scanner. During the 2001-2 academic year, anesthesiology attendings and residents performed nearly 11,000 anesthetics. (About 50 percent of the surgical cases are unscheduled.) A major capital improvement project is scheduled for completion in 2005 that will provide us with more O.R.s.
HMC prides itself on a special esprit-de-corps and positive attitude. We enjoy what we do, we enjoy each other, and we work together toward a common goal. The teaching component is considered vital, and many faculty regard it as one their main aims. Residents work hard but, in the process, they see a lot, do a lot, and develop self-confidence.
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Dr. Arthur Lam Phone: 206 731-4686 |
Location
of the Harborview Medical Center relative to the UW
Shuttle
services to Harborview and UW Medical Centers
Harborview
Medical Center web site
Harborview Anesthesia Intranet Site (requires IRIS / AMC approved username)
UWNetID Required •
UWMC IRIS ID Required • 
Anesthesia UWNetID Required
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