The ACES Program helps aspiring anesthesiologist-scientists develop into superb clinicians as well as scientists, who will be equally respected among both clinical and scientific communities. ACES residents comfortably exceed ABA clinical requirements and are held to the same clinical standards as all Duke Anesthesiology residents.

Assuming ongoing clinical performance meets acceptable standards, the program allows ACES residents to set aside up to 13 months of dedicated research time while still successfully completing their anesthesiology internship, residency and 1-year subspecialty fellowship (if desired). After joining the faculty, trainees can gain further research time (up to 80% protected time over 2 years), either on the departmental T32 or from successfully obtained mentored research awards. Thus, the total protected research time for trainees can be up to 33 months in the first 7 years after joining our department.

While this is the “traditional” ACES path through residency and fellowship, we recognize that different trainees often require individualized training plans and schedules to best meet their personal, clinical, and scientific training needs and goals. For example, an ACES trainee doing mouse genetics research may need more intermittent research time to set up transgenic mouse lines, followed by uninterrupted research time once the necessary animals are available. In contrast, ACES trainees performing clinical or human translational research may benefit from having their protected research time spread out over multiple periods during the five-year program. ACES residents and program leadership work together to facilitate the best plan based on individual needs, while maintaining adherence to ABA guidelines.

In recent years, ACES residents have completed fellowships in cardiothoracic, pediatric, regional anesthesia and acute pain medicine, and neurosurgical anesthesia, as well as critical care medicine. Most, but not all, ACES residents complete a formal clinical fellowship, though some of our most successful ACES trainees did not complete a clinical fellowship. Some ACES trainees with outstanding scientific backgrounds choose to do a junior faculty year as a “clinical instructor” rather than a clinical fellowship; this approach allows the trainee to apply for grants open only to faculty members while also transitioning into independent clinical practice. Additionally, this route allows for more research time in the fifth year of the ACES Program, thus allowing the trainee to make significant scientific progress before their tenure clock starts as an assistant professor. Rather than adhering to a rigid formula, the ACES Program employs flexibility to ensure that each trainee has the best individualized plan to maximize his/her clinical and scientific training and success as well as personal wellbeing.

The academic chief resident helps facilitate and coordinate ACES educational and social activities during the academic year, including the annual ACES Academic Evening, where we view presentations of ongoing research by ACES residents/fellows, listen to an invited guest speaker, and host ACES applicants for a second visit. S/he also monitors the effectiveness of various ACES activities, acts as a resource for residency applicants considering the ACES Program, helps mentor younger ACES trainees as they navigate through the early stages of the ACES Program, and serves as a liaison to the ACES administrative team, as well as between the departmental leadership and ACES residents to work toward enhancing the overall ACES experience. Additionally, the academic chief resident sponsors the ACES visiting professor visit, a capstone event for the ACES Program, typically held near the end of each academic year.

A plethora of research mentoring, career development and other resources are available for ACES trainees through Duke Anesthesiology, as well as the larger Duke University School of Medicine and Medical Center, which support trainees in basic, translational, and clinical research career development. In fact, there are so many resources available for research development, grant-writing and organization, and research mentorship that our ACES trainees typically take advantage of multiple resources from among the list below, based on their own personal research and career development needs. These departmental and institutional resources robustly fulfill any training requirements for career development awards and provide the necessary training and education for developing into an independent investigator.

Duke Anesthesiology Departmental Career Development Resources

Duke Anesthesiology Faculty Development Program

Duke Anesthesiology Mentorship Program

Duke Anesthesiology SMART (Supporting Mentorship in Anesthesia Research through Training) Program

Duke Anesthesiology Biostatistics Resources

Duke University School of Medicine and Medical Center Career Development Resources

Duke Office of Research Mentoring

Duke Clinical Research Training Program

Duke Grant Writing Resources

Duke Leadership Development for Researchers (LEADER)

The Fund to Retain Clinical Scientists at Duke

Duke Office of Physician Scientist Development Resources and Opportunities

Duke Advancing Scientific Integrity, Services, and Training (ASIST)

Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI), the world’s largest academic clinical research organization.

The Robert J. Lefkowitz Society (named for Professor of Medicine Robert J. Lefkowitz, recipient of the Novel Prize for Chemistry in 2012), a society to support post graduate MD/PhD and MD trainees pursuing careers with a primary focus on basic or translational research as physician-investigators.

Duke Feagin Leadership Program

Click above to watch Duke Anesthesiology chairman, Dr. Joseph Mathew, share his perspectives on the ACES Program.

Because the ACES Program is a part of the Duke Anesthesiology Residency Program, ACES candidates must first apply to our residency program.

We accept applications through ERAS.

Additionally, we use the Residency Central Application as a supplement to ERAS. The CentralApp was started as a free alternative to ERAS in plastic surgery 3 years ago and it is now used specialty-wide. We are among the first programs to trial this platform in anesthesiology. We hope that in future years, CentralApp will remove the financial barriers created by progressive application fee structures. There is no cost to use the CentralApp and you can apply to as many programs as you like. In addition, as you will see from the questions, CentralApp also promotes holistic application review by focusing on quality application content rather than quantity. 

Upon accessing the platform, you will be instructed to create a secure account and will be able to request letters of recommendation, transcripts, and MSPE (Dean's Letters) directly through the portal. The Match will remain with the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP). Please direct any questions about the application to HELP@accessgme.com.

Our application requirements are the same as the standard ERAS application: the complete application, CV, personal statement, medical student performance evaluation (dean’s letter), transcript, and three letters of recommendation. We require Step 1 and Step 2 USMLE scores of all applicants. Step 2 may be completed after the application deadline but must be submitted before ranking in February. Successful completion of USMLE Step 1 and of Step 2 CK is required by Duke University Hospital prior to matriculation.

We abide by the Duke Graduate Medical Education (GME) policy on licensing examinations, with the added stipulation that we require passage of the USMLE Step 3 before starting the CA-1 year.

• Most applicants who are successfully admitted into the ACES program will have previously had significant research experience prior to residency (at least one dedicated year, but most often a Masters or PhD).
• Only applicants with prior research experience and committed to pursue a research career should apply to ACES.
• Within the residency program application, ACES candidates should indicate (check the box) that they would like to be considered for the Duke Anesthesiology ACES program/track
  Note: Indicating your interest does not ensure acceptance into the ACES program/track
• Application season typically opens each September

Screening Process for ACES Candidates

• Duke Anesthesiology faculty review ACES applications and determine which candidates to interview for the ACES Program/track
• Up to two ACES candidates are selected for/invited to take part in the ACES Program each year

Thanks to the ACES curriculum design, residents who sustain successful clinical and examination performance records, can complete 36 months of residency training in anesthesiology (CA-1, CA-2, CA-3 years) within a 23 month period, leaving the remaining 13 months dedicated to the ACES Research Program/track.

Thank you for your interest in the Duke ACES (Academic Career Enrichment Scholars) research residency program!

ACES is a five-year program, including residency, fellowship and up to 13 months of research. Through its efficient, customized curriculum, ACES prepares the next generation of anesthesiologist-scientists without prolonging clinical training.

With only one to two ACES trainees annually, each trainee has a customized plan to maximize both clinical and scientific development. This individual attention and supportive environment allows ACES trainees to take ownership of their careers as academic anesthesiologists and to find the path that best suits their unique goals and interests.

ACES trainees are fully Duke Anesthesiology residents/fellows, with all the benefits, certifications, collegiality, and superb training that defines Duke Anesthesiology. ACES residents complete the standard clinical base year as interns. Advanced/subspeciality rotations typically begin halfway through CA-1 year and continue through the end of CA-2 year. Protected research time may start with a month or two in CA-2 year and then continue through most of CA-3 year; however, each ACES trainee is unique. Therefore, the curriculum has flexibility to incorporate research at different points during residency and fellowship. Fellowships are typically chosen by the end of CA-2 year, but again, there is lots of support and guidance to ensure the best fit for each trainee.

In addition to the friendly, welcoming residency and fellowship programs, ACES trainees are part of the broader Duke physician-scientist community, a department with a strong dedication to research, and the ACES community. Many former ACES trainees remain on the Duke Anesthesiology faculty. There is both a culture of “paying it forward” and genuine friendship among ACES trainees past and present. For example, prior to the pandemic, ACES trainees would go out to dinner monthly as a group. While our interactions are more virtual and less structured for now, we still have the same incredible collegiality!

Thank you again for your interest in the Duke ACES Program. You can follow us on Twitter @aces_duke and feel free to reach out with any questions!

Best,
Leah Acker, PhD, MD

Most successful ACES trainees will have completed both MD and PhD degrees or will have completed significant and impactful research as a medical student.

ACES trainees are expected to be superb clinicians, innovative researchers, and strong team players.

ACES residents benefit from hands-on detailed mentoring, additional research stipend support, and the benefit of being part of a dynamic and inclusive anesthesiology research community.

There is no requirement for ACES trainees to join our departmental faculty, though many have done so. Roughly one third of our ACES Program graduates (i.e. eight individuals) are currently on the Duke Anesthesiology faculty. Many ACES graduates have joined the faculty of other leading academic medical centers, and virtually all ACES graduates are currently in academic medicine. We view it as a success of the ACES Program whenever a graduate obtains a faculty position with protected research time, whether that is at Duke or other leading academic medical centers.

As above, no. There is no requirement for ACES Program graduates to join our departmental faculty, though given the high caliber of our ACES graduates, we are delighted when ACES trainees seek to join Duke Anesthesiology after completing the ACES Program.

To date, ACES Program graduates have obtained more than $26 million in extramural research funding, and have published more than 423 peer-reviewed publications. Several ACES trainees have been instrumental in the founding and ongoing leadership of eSAS (early Stage Anesthesiology Scholars), an international organization designed to promote the development of anesthesiologist scientists and researchers.

ACES graduates have obtained NIH funding from several different institutes (NIA, NIGMS, etc.), as well as from FAER (the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research), IARS (the International Anesthesia Research Society), the American Geriatrics Society, the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, the American Heart Association, and the Department of Defense.