Faculty
Dr. Ken Kromash, Program Director, completed a two-year anesthesiology residency for dentists at AIMMC in July of 1992. Since that time, Dr. Kromash has been on staff at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in the department of dentistry as the Head of the Section of Pain and Anxiety Control. He is responsible for educating the GPR residents in moderate sedation techniques consistent with the Guidelines for Teaching Pain Control and Sedation to Dentists published by the American Dental Association. He provides didactic and clinical lectures to the residents and supervises the administration of medications to patients in the dental clinic as the GPR residents perform general dentistry on sedated patients. Currently, over 250 cases of sedation are completed each year by the residents under the supervision of Dr. Kromash.
He has extensive experience and training with special needs, medically complex and pediatric patients. All of the GPR faculty are very experienced with procedural sedation and can provide great support. The AIMMC Anesthesia Residency Program has many outstanding faculty members who already support the GPR anesthesia rotation. Dr. Katayoun Aghajani, Anesthesia Program Director, is a tremendous advocate of the dental anesthesia residency and is very popular with all the residents during their 12-18-month hospital anesthesia rotation.
Research Activity
The Department of Anesthesiology at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center has published 350 peer reviewed articles (studies, review articles, systematic reviews and meta-analysis, case studies and Letters to the Editors) in prestigious journals (Anesthesia 7 Analgesia, Anesthesiology, Pain Medicine, Pain Physician, Etc). There are Editorial Board Members, Reviewers, Abstract Selection Committee and IRB Members within the anesthesia department. Anesthesia residents and faculty members presented more than 400 presentations in the last 5 years and won more than 50 awards at different meeting and conferences (ASRA, AAPM, AUA, SAM, etc). Dental Anesthesia residents will gain exposure to research through this activity, as well as through participation in the GPR housed Evidence Based Journal Club.
The department is deeply vested in research and every medial anesthesia resident is required to submit either a Case Report or Study for the Midwest Anesthesia Resident Conference (MARC). Residents are also encouraged to present at multiple conferences such as the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA), the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA), American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM), etc. Each resident is paired with an attending anesthesiologist of their choosing.
Dental Anesthesia residents will be required to submit a case review or participate in a literature review with the guidance of the Program Director and an Anesthesia Department attending, and must be presented in a scientific/educational forum.
The department has on staff an MD scientist N. Nick Knezevic, MD, PhD, Vice Chair for Research and Education, who has an extensive history in research and is always willing to extend his knowledge. In addition, Dr. Knezevic is an Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Surgery at the University of Illinois. He is also a designated member of the Advocate Institutional Review Board (IRB), member of many scientific anesthesiology and pain medicine committees, reviewer of many prestigious journals and section editor for the Pain Physician journal.