Department of
Medical Education

Francesca Aromin, MD

Name: Francesca Aromin 

Board Certification: Anesthesiology

Medical School: WVU School of Medicine

Residency: UPMC 

Faculty Rank: Assistant Professor 

Special Clinical/Research Interests: Fellowship in Acute Pain and Regional Anesthesiology

Is there a particular population of students (e.g., ethnicity, spiritual, sexual orientation) that you would particularly like to advise?

I am open to anyone! I do have a special interest in recruiting more women to the field of anesthesiology and in mentoring parents of all genders.

What does a typical day in the life of a Anesthesiologist include?

If I am on the general OR schedule, I arrive around 6:15 and see my patients for the day.  I am usually either supervising 2 resident run OR rooms or 2-3 CRNA run OR rooms, so it is my job to know all patients well and manage their comorbid diseases while under anesthesia.  I will also make sure they are appropriate for anesthesia or if any additional workup needs to happen prior to surgery.  The rooms covered can be basically any operation – general surgery, obstetrics, thoracic surgery, vascular surgery, etc.  Throughout the day I will oversee any procedures in my assigned rooms (central lines, arterial lines, spinal anesthetics) as well as perform all inductions and extubations.  I will manage any unexpected challenges, patient issues, difficult airway procedures, and PACU complications. My day usually ends anywhere between 2-5 PM.

If I am on a Regional/Acute Pain call day, I will come in around 6 to supervise all first start nerve blocks.  We will perform anything from brachial plexus nerve blocks to abdominal plane blocks to thoracic level epidurals for very painful procedures.  When we have time in between nerve blocks we will round on any patients who had blocks previously and are still in the hospital.  We often have students or medics with us and will do some teaching both on rounds and during procedures.  I usually finish taking consults around 3 PM.

What is the biggest challenge of being an Anesthesiologist? 

I would say the biggest challenge is to not only handle an unexpected emergency calmly and rationally but to be able to put it behind you and keep going.  As an anesthesiologist, you are constantly trying to keep multiple very sick patients safe at the same time.  If one patient has a complication, you have to be able to diagnose and treat the patient quickly, and then immediately go put out another fire.  Sometimes when a complication is particularly severe or challenging, it is hard to not second guess yourself or to continue replaying the scenario in your head, but it is important to be completely present and attentive to all of your patients, not just the most challenging ones.  Finding that balance between learning from all of your patients while not dwelling on them is something I will always continue to work on. 

How do you foresee the field of anesthesiology changing over the next 20 years?

We often are asked about the ever changing role between CRNAs and anesthesiologists.  I believe that CRNAs will continue to be an essential part of the anesthesia team and may gain more autonomy in future, but that patients will always want a physician as the head of their care team.  As physicians, we need to continue to show our importance and relevance in complex patient care. It seems to be that the field is moving into a more hands on role – many anesthesiologists are “hands-on” in a room rather than supervision.  This may become more prevalent in future as we continue to show our value.

What advice would you give a student who is considering an anesthesiology residency?

I can truly say that I love my job.  Every day is different; each patient, surgery, and procedure have specific challenges I need to handle to make sure every patient is safe and well cared for in my custody.  I will constantly learn and be challenged. However, I will say that the job can be incredibly stressful; you are the person in charge of life-or-death situations fairly regularly.  I would consider how you react to stressful situations before choosing anesthesia as a career.  Make sure you are comfortable leading a team, making quick decisions, and multitasking.  It is an incredibly rewarding job knowing that my presence saved someone’s life almost daily, and that I am helping future anesthesiologists gain the skills and knowledge to do the same.