PDs @ SEA is a conversation series created for anesthesiology residency leaders, faculty, and trainees who want an honest look into the evolving world of anesthesia education. The show features Residency Program Directors from across the country discussing the decisions, challenges, and real-world considerations behind recruiting, training, and supporting residents.
Hosts Bryan and Marianne draw from their own experiences while inviting colleagues to reflect on practical issues such as changes to the interview and application process, transitions in leadership, and shifting expectations in graduate medical education. Each episode offers candid dialogue, shared lessons, and the sense of community that many program directors look for but often find difficult to access in day-to-day work.
The series includes in-depth conversations with current and former residency leaders, members of the American Society of Anesthesiologists Medical Student Component, and educators who are shaping how residents learn. Together, these discussions provide insight into how program directors think, how residency decisions are made, and how the field continues to adapt to the needs of students, residents, and institutions.
Produced by the Stanford AIM Lab on behalf of the Society for Education in Anesthesiology.
For questions, topic suggestions, or to join the conversation, email: pdsatsea@seahq.org
Publisher
Stanford Anesthesia Informatics and Media (AIM)Lab
Leading Beyond the OR: Lessons from U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams
Technical excellence has always been central to anesthesiology. Increasingly, however, the future of the specialty will depend on something equally important: leadership, communication, and the ability to build trust. In this episode of PDs at SEA, Dr. Marianne Chen welcomes former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams for a wide-ranging conversation about what anesthesiology educators should be teaching beyond clinical knowledge. Drawing on his experience as a practicing anesthesiologist, st...
19 Apr 2026
Match Day Reflections: What This Year Taught Program Directors
Episode Summary Residency recruitment is often discussed in terms of outcomes, match rates, fill rates, and competitiveness. Less often is it examined as a continuous, year-round process shaped by strategy, signaling, and evolving applicant behavior. In this episode of PDs@SEA, Dr. Marianne Chen and Dr. Bryan Mahoney reflect on the most recent Match, sharing initial reactions and what this recruitment cycle reveals about the current state of anesthesiology training. From the sheer volume of w...
27 Mar 2026
Global health Opportunities in Anesthesia
Jo Davies, MBBS, FRCA, Professor of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of Washington, Director of the Society for Education in Anesthesia (SEA) and Health Volunteers Overseas (HVO) Traveling Fellowship with the Committee for Global Outreach https://www.seahq.org/sea-hvo-traveling-fellowship Elizabeth T. Drum, M.D., F.A.A.P., F.C.P.P., F.A.S.A., Professor of Clinical Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Chair ...
3 Feb 2026
Early Exposure, Better Advice: Medical Student Education and the Future of Anesthesiology
Medical student education in anesthesiology is often treated as peripheral to residency leadership. Less often is it examined as a strategic lever for recruitment, advising quality, and the long-term health of the specialty. In this episode of PDs@SEA, Dr. Marianne Chen is joined by Dr. Mike Hofkamp and Dr. Christine Vo to examine how early exposure to anesthesiology shapes student interest, preparedness, and competitiveness. Drawing from their experiences as long-standing medical student cle...
20 Dec 2025
Everything You Wanted to Know About Being a Program Director
Program directorship is often framed as an administrative role or temporary leadership assignment. Less often is it examined as a structurally vulnerable position, balancing the needs of residents, faculty, institutions, and accreditation requirements. In this episode of PDs@SEA, Dr. Marianne Chen and Dr. Bryan Mahoney reflect on the candid “Everything You Wanted to Know” session from the SAPM meeting, surfacing experiences program directors across the country rarely articulate publicly. The ...
7 Nov 2025
A New Co-Host and a New Era in Residency Recruitment
This episode marks a major milestone for PDs @ SEA. We celebrate our tenth episode and welcome our new co-host, Dr. Marianne Chen, Residency Program Director at Stanford. Marianne joins host Dr. Bryan Mahoney to talk about leadership transitions, the realities of running a residency, and how signaling and recent ERAS changes are reshaping recruitment across anesthesiology. Together, they compare early data, share how signaling is affecting the depth and fairness of application review, and ref...
7 Nov 2025
The Questions Students Are Asking Us: A Conversation With the ASA Medical Student Community
In this episode of PDs @ SEA, we sit down with student doctor and ASA Medical Student Component Senior Advisor, Tiffy Kung, to review the most commonly asked questions from medical students preparing to apply into anesthesiology. Together, we unpack how students are thinking about away rotations, signaling strategies, letters of recommendation, research identity, and how to assess program culture. For program directors, this conversation provides a clear window into applicant mindset, sources...
7 Nov 2025
Why Residency Leadership is Burning Out (And Why It Still Matters)
In this conversation, Dr. Bryan Mahoney speaks with Dr. Stacy Fairbanks about her journey through anesthesiology training, medical education leadership, and her recent transition out of the residency program director role. Dr. Fairbanks reflects on what made the work meaningful, the challenges of balancing multiple stakeholders, the evolving pressures of training in a post-COVID clinical environment, and how residency culture shapes both learning and wellbeing. She speaks candidly about burno...
7 Nov 2025
Passing the Torch: How a Residency Survives (and Grows) Through Leadership Change
In this episode of PDs at SEA, Dr. David Stahl reconnects with two former colleagues from The Ohio State University to reflect on what happens when leadership changes hands in a residency program. Dr. Amy Bauman, now the program director at OSU, and Dr. Jared Spear, outgoing chief resident, join the conversation to discuss the practical and emotional dimensions of program director transition from three different vantage points: the departing PD, the incoming PD, and the residents navigating t...
7 Nov 2025
The Signal Reality Check: What Actually Determined Interview Invites This Year
In this episode of PDs @ SEA, we sit down at the end of the interview season to compare what program directors actually experienced under the expanded signaling system. With both programs having wrapped interviews and finalized rank lists before second looks, the conversation turns to how gold and silver signals shaped who was reviewed, who was invited, and how programs interpreted applicant interest. We discuss how much signals narrowed the screening workload, whether geographic preference a...
7 Nov 2025
The Truth About Signaling, Letters of Intent, and The Match: A PD’s Unfiltered Guide
In this conversation, Dr. Brian Mahoney sits down to speak directly to the concerns and confusion many applicants experience during the residency match process. The discussion focuses on how the signaling system is evolving, practical strategies for allocating gold and silver signals, and why signaling should be based on thoughtful alignment rather than a sense of safety or prestige. The episode also addresses a topic that creates anxiety every year: how to prepare for residency interviews an...
7 Nov 2025
How to Build a Program Residents Want to Stay In
In this episode of PDs @ SEA, newly appointed residency program director Dr. Erik Romanelli sits down with his mentor’s mentor, Dr. Adam Levine of Mount Sinai, who has led his residency program for nearly three decades. The conversation traces how a PD grows into the role, why the work matters beyond administration, and what sustains a career in residency leadership over time. Dr. Levine reflects on the lessons that shaped him, the value of assuming nothing, and the core belief that program d...
7 Nov 2025
So the Applications Just Dropped: How Program Directors Actually Read Them
On application release day, Drs. Bryan Mahoney and David Stahl sit down for an unscripted conversation about what they are seeing in the first hours of the cycle. With residency applications now open and program signals in play, they compare how many signals their programs received, how application volume has shifted, and how they are planning to prioritize holistic review this year. They discuss whether non-signaled applicants will meaningfully be considered, how sincere outreach emails will...
7 Nov 2025
Inside the Anesthesiology Discord: What Applicants Are Saying When We’re Not in the Room
In this episode, we speak with Dr. Reid Geisler, surgery intern and incoming anesthesiology resident, who served as moderator of the national anesthesiology applicant Discord server. Over two recent application cycles, the server grew to more than four thousand members, becoming the de facto community space where applicants shared information, anxieties, and unfiltered opinions about programs and the Match. Dr. Geisler discusses what draws students to Discord, how online communities influence...
7 Nov 2025
The Interview Dark Web: What Program Directors Learned from Discord
In this debrief conversation, Drs. Bryan Mahoney and David Stahl reflect on their interview with Dr. Reid Geisler, former moderator of the national anesthesiology applicant Discord server. They explore how online communities shape applicant perceptions, what applicants fear, and where misconceptions arise about program culture, workload, CRNA dynamics, case exposure, and prestige. The discussion turns toward transparency in selection, program values, and why residency fit often comes down to ...
7 Nov 2025
Signals, Step 1, and the Search for Fit: A Candid Conversation
In this inaugural episode of the Program Directors at SEA podcast, hosts Dr. Brian Mahoney and Dr. David Stahl open a candid conversation about the current landscape of anesthesiology residency recruitment. They explore how program directors are adapting to application signaling, the transition to pass–fail Step 1 scoring, and the continued reliance on virtual interviews. Drawing from their own programs in New York City and Columbus, they compare regional dynamics, shifting applicant behavior...
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