Max Rady College of Medicine

Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

Welcome to the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine. We endeavour to provide exemplary anesthesia services, education and research. Our goal is to be of service to our patient and families in need of care. Compassion, science and vigilance are the foundation to our patient-centered care delivery models.

Doctors and students work with a medical mannequin during an anesthesia simulation.

Our anesthesia team currently serves more than 80,000 patients annually across nine distinct hospital sites throughout Winnipeg.

Anesthesiologists play a crucial role in providing acute and chronic pain services in Winnipeg, Brandon, and Thompson, MB. They operate in various settings, including pre-anesthesia clinics, step-down units, perioperative medicine, critical care medicine, and palliative care.

Our team takes pride in our robust faculty, comprising approximately 127 anesthesiologists, 35 anesthesiology residents, multiple fellows, and physician extenders, including anesthesia clinical assistants (ACAs) and eight ophthalmic sedation practitioners.

What we offer

We are proud to offer educational programs at multiple levels of expertise, training the next generation of anesthesiologists within the province.

Anesthesia fellowships

Our one-year fellowships provide ample opportunity for clinical research and advanced training within six sub-specialties.

Current student resources

Find up-to-date information on electives, fellowships, postgraduate residencies and an archive of study resources.

Department of Anesthesia certification programs

The Basic Life Support and Anesthesia Specific Advanced Life Support programs provide you with skills and certifications necessary for ongoing practice in anesthesia.

  • Basic Life Support (BLS)

    Cardiovascular Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) programs teach essential skills and knowledge based on current evidence. The focus is on achieving certification at the basic rescuer level, a prerequisite for advanced life support programs, with annual recertification. Updated editions are released every four to five years.

    Basic Life Support (BLS) is a mandatory part of clinical practice. For BLS recertification, reach out to your site's ACA representative and we'll schedule a session to fit your schedule. To learn  more, contact Sean Jardine.

  • Anesthesia Specific Advanced Life Support (ACLS)

    Sessions take place in the Clinical Learning Simulation Facility. There are eight spots available per session, and the cost is $350 per person.

    There are currently no planned sessions. Please check back for future offerings.

    To sign up for sessions, contact Dr. Williamson.

Professional development credits

In discussion with the Royal College, you can claim educational credits for the BLS/ACLS courses under Section 2; Framework of Continuing Professional Development Activities either as a Traineeship or PLP (personal learning project).

You will receive two credits per hour of activity: The suggested time is two to three hours for reading of the course material (BLS manual) and review of the video, half an hour for the written exam and one hour for the practical component of the course.

This would be three and a half to four and a half at two credits per hour or seven to nine credits for BLS. You may require less or more time, but this is the correct area for documentation with the Royal College MOC program.

Department Research

We are committed to advancing our understanding and improving patient outcomes through research.

Our research office provides support to current and future research projects within the department. Our services include:

    • Project design and statistics consultations
    • Assistance with ethics, Health Canada and clinical trial submissions
    • Information on funding sources
    • Assistance with grant proposals and manuscript submissions
    • Help with hiring research personnel
    • Budget development for grants and ethics submissions
    • Research account management

Current faculty research projects

Research within the Department of Anesthesia, Perioperative and Pain Medicine investigates broad areas within the field, from neuroanesthesia to mental health correlates of surgery.

Virendra Arya headshot

Dr. Virendra Arya

Research interests include regional anesthesia for enhanced cardiac surgical recovery, emotional intelligence in perioperative medicine and medical surprise anticipation and response capability (M-SARC) in perioperative medicine.
/medicine/faculty-staff/virendra-arya
Duane Funk headshot

Dr. Duane Funk

Working with multidisciplinary teams on several projects including mechanical ventilation of ARDS, Translational Model of Critical Care of High Consequence pathogens, Epidemiology/Virology of SARS-CoV-2.
/medicine/faculty-staff/duane-funk
Ruth Graham headshot

Dr. Ruth Graham

Basic science studies of cardiorespiratory dynamics using animal models of acute lung injury and primary pulmonary hypertension to explore mechanical ventilation injury, hemodynamics and management options for these pathophysiological conditions in collaboration with the Neonatal Hemodynamics group. Clinical studies with a focus on perioperative outcomes collaborating with the Pediatric Perioperative Outcomes Group to understand outcomes of greatest relevance to patients and families.
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Alexander Grunfeld headshot

Dr. Alexander Grunfeld

Research areas include developing and evaluating methods to enhance patients' quality of recovery and reduce the risk of adverse postoperative outcomes following major noncardiac surgery and understanding variation in critical care resource utilization and short- and long-term outcomes among patients undergoing major noncardiac surgery.
/medicine/faculty-staff/alexander-grunfeld
Stephen Kowalski headshot

Dr. Stephen Kowalski

Research areas include: High spinal anesthesia in cardiac surgery, high spinal anesthesia in liver resection surgery, airway management in critical care, predictors of first pass success rate with intubations in Critical Care, association of unsuccessful first pass intubation with long term ICU outcomes, weaning strategies for long term ventilated patients, and use of speaking valves to facilitate liberation from mechanical ventilation.
/medicine/faculty-staff/stephen-kowalski
Alan Mutch profile photo.

Dr. William Mutch

Current interest in developing a quantitative concussion test based on a BOLD EPI approach utilizing a repeatable carbon dioxide breathing challenge. For more information visit the Canada North Concussion Network website
Current interest in developing a quantitative postoperative delirium (POD) predictive test.
/medicine/faculty-staff/william-mutch
Thomas Mutter headshot

Dr. Thomas Mutter

Research includes: obstructive sleep apnea and postoperative outcomes, adjuvants to local anesthetics for regional anesthesia, postoperative outcomes after regional anesthesia and ambulatory surgery, postoperative vision loss, efficiency in preoperative care and preoperative diagnostic testing and perioperative use of tranexamic acid.
/medicine/faculty-staff/thomas-mutter
Virendra Arya headshot
Duane Funk headshot
Ruth Graham headshot
Alexander Grunfeld headshot
Stephen Kowalski headshot
Alan Mutch profile photo.
Thomas Mutter headshot

Our researchers

Learn more about our groundbreaking researchers, including:

Search UM's expert directory

Student working with a miroscope

Undergraduate Research Awards

Each year, the University of Manitoba provides a multitude of unique learning opportunities through the undergraduate research awards. This program allows undergraduate students to interact with the best minds and research leaders in their fields. This experience opens them up to new possibilities for a research career in either government, academic or industry sectors.

Community and outreach

Serving our community

We provide most of the chronic pain services in Manitoba with nine sites serving over 80,000 patients in Winnipeg per year.

An exemplary team

Together we provide excellent patient care to Manitobans—our team includes 110 anesthesiologists, 35 anesthesiology residents, eight OSPs, multiple fellows and ACAs.

Alumni connect

Alumni from our department are invited share their contact information so we can stay in touch with news and updates.

Contact us

  • Dr. Brian Postl, dean of medicine; Dean & vice-provost (health sciences), welcomes alumni back to the medical college.

Faculty and staff

Faculty and staff directory

News and stories

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Contact us

Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine
Max Rady College of Medicine
Harry Medovy House, second floor
671 William Avenue
University of Manitoba (Bannatyne campus)
Winnipeg, MB R3E 0Z2 Canada

dmiller@hsc.mb.ca
204-787-1125
204-787-4291