For a number of reasons, I didn't get much time on my Anesthesiology rotation. That's a shame, because it was quite enjoyable! Here are my Likes and Dislikes.
1) Anesthesiology is not boring
The stereotype of the anesthesiologist slumbering behind the curtain is still alive and well, but I found myself to be quite busy when on the service. The actual act of putting someone under general anesthetic, sedation, or otherwise providing pain relief is not a simple process. There is a lot of preparation and planning that goes into it. Deciding what supports are needed, from the type of respiratory support, to the number of IVs, to the presence of an arterial line takes some quick decision-making. Securing all these supports, especially in the fast-paced setting of an OR, is not an easy task. Intubating is hard, and I failed at it, a lot!
2) Ok, sometimes Anesthesiology is boring
In ORs with regular turnover between cases and reasonably complex anesthetic requirements, there is plenty of action. In ORs where neither of these is the case... well, it can get pretty dry. Cases that last for half the day mean hours of sitting doing not a whole lot for Anesthesiologists. If the patient becomes unstable or threatens to, then things can get interesting, but that happens relatively infrequently, a testament to the efficacy of what Anesthesiologists do. On the other side, cases which only require mild or moderate sedation do not involve much preparation, and so tend to proceed like clockwork. I still found these cases interesting for a few weeks, but I doubt I'd be able to sustain interest for years or even months.
3) Teaching, teaching, teaching
Anesthesiologists, at least the ones I worked with, were really great about teaching. I got to go over a wide variety of topics not just once but multiple times. Aspects of medicine I hadn't touched on previously were like second-nature after finished the rotation. Even with limited time on the rotation, I felt like I got a lot of key points of my education covered thoroughly, simply due to dedicated teaching time and repetition of important elements. I really wish more of medicine had the degree of emphasis on teaching and focus in topics as Anesthesiology seemed to.
4) Happiness Test
Anesthesiologists seem pretty happy. Sometimes a little bored, no doubt. Saw more than one playing Candy Crush during an OR. I think the downtime helps though. Medicine is such a whirlwind, it's easy to get caught up in it. Anesthesiology comes with built-in breaks, slowing things down even if just by a small amount. A little bit of boring can be enormously beneficial.
Showing posts with label anesthesiology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label anesthesiology. Show all posts
Friday, 2 September 2016
Thursday, 4 August 2016
Western Student Ultrasound Symposium
Been exceptionally busy over the last week or so, for personal and professional reasons. I have a ton of posts in the works, but haven't had much time to actually sit down and get them done.
One of the things keeping me busy lately has been my involvement in the Western Student Ultrasound Symposium. I'm immensely proud of my time over the past 4 years with this event, essentially since its inception, so get ready for some shameless plugging!
Ultrasound, specifically point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) has become increasingly important in medical practice. For those in Emergency Medicine and Anesthesiology, it's practically required. For those in General Surgery, Cardiac Surgery, Internal Medicine, and Pediatrics, POCUS comes up reasonably often, particularly in certain subspecialties of these disciplines like critical care. As ultrasound technology has become more powerful and less expensive, it has been all the more convenient to use it in everyday practice, whether that's performing a quick diagnostic test or for assistance with a procedure.
It's a great teaching tool as well, particularly when it comes to anatomy. Cardiac anatomy is a lot easier to understand when you can actually see it beating, then move your ultrasound probe around to see what it looks like from different angles! In addition, while neither specialty uses POCUS itself, both Obstetrics and Diagnostic Radiology have to be pretty proficient in ultrasound techniques, so learning the principles of the technology at an early stage has its advantages. I'm applying to Family Medicine this coming CaRMS cycle and will take a lot of what I learned through POCUS into my residency, even if I only ever use an ultrasound machine on my Emergency Medicine rotations.
Why do I bring this up now? Well, the Symposium this year is only a few weeks away, to be held in London on August 20th. We've had a few last-minute cancellations, and have an open spot or two for medical students of any training level. It's an easy way to add something meaningful to your CV in preparation for CaRMS, as well as a skill to your repertoire for residency.
Sign-ups for interested medical students can be found here: http://www.cvent.com/d/dfqt0l
There is a cost, which we try to keep to an absolute minimum. We will have billeting for those coming from out of town. I'm happy to answer any further questions for those who may be interested!
What about for those not yet in medical school? We restrict the Symposium itself to medical students, but there are opportunities for pre-meds as well. In particular, we ask for pre-meds to help us out as volunteer patient models for scanning. I did this myself before starting medical school!
As a patient model, you're right in the middle of the teaching, so there's lots of opportunities to learn. We do all the work of organizing the Symposium, so volunteers' only responsibility is being models for scanning, no extra work. It's also a great chance to interact with medical students, see a bit of what they learn, and to ask questions about how they find medical school - I try to give our volunteers every opportunity to ask me questions about medical school, from admissions to residency applications, one-on-one for those who are interested.
Sign-ups for pre-meds interested in volunteering can be found here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeGp0aNGPt89NGFWuuchV1dUYe4loqcaIrYFgJDSCHGYi40eg/viewform?c=0&w=1
Ok, that does it for the shameless plugging for now. Will try to get back to a more normal posting schedule soon!
One of the things keeping me busy lately has been my involvement in the Western Student Ultrasound Symposium. I'm immensely proud of my time over the past 4 years with this event, essentially since its inception, so get ready for some shameless plugging!
Ultrasound, specifically point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) has become increasingly important in medical practice. For those in Emergency Medicine and Anesthesiology, it's practically required. For those in General Surgery, Cardiac Surgery, Internal Medicine, and Pediatrics, POCUS comes up reasonably often, particularly in certain subspecialties of these disciplines like critical care. As ultrasound technology has become more powerful and less expensive, it has been all the more convenient to use it in everyday practice, whether that's performing a quick diagnostic test or for assistance with a procedure.
It's a great teaching tool as well, particularly when it comes to anatomy. Cardiac anatomy is a lot easier to understand when you can actually see it beating, then move your ultrasound probe around to see what it looks like from different angles! In addition, while neither specialty uses POCUS itself, both Obstetrics and Diagnostic Radiology have to be pretty proficient in ultrasound techniques, so learning the principles of the technology at an early stage has its advantages. I'm applying to Family Medicine this coming CaRMS cycle and will take a lot of what I learned through POCUS into my residency, even if I only ever use an ultrasound machine on my Emergency Medicine rotations.
Why do I bring this up now? Well, the Symposium this year is only a few weeks away, to be held in London on August 20th. We've had a few last-minute cancellations, and have an open spot or two for medical students of any training level. It's an easy way to add something meaningful to your CV in preparation for CaRMS, as well as a skill to your repertoire for residency.
Sign-ups for interested medical students can be found here: http://www.cvent.com/d/dfqt0l
There is a cost, which we try to keep to an absolute minimum. We will have billeting for those coming from out of town. I'm happy to answer any further questions for those who may be interested!
What about for those not yet in medical school? We restrict the Symposium itself to medical students, but there are opportunities for pre-meds as well. In particular, we ask for pre-meds to help us out as volunteer patient models for scanning. I did this myself before starting medical school!
As a patient model, you're right in the middle of the teaching, so there's lots of opportunities to learn. We do all the work of organizing the Symposium, so volunteers' only responsibility is being models for scanning, no extra work. It's also a great chance to interact with medical students, see a bit of what they learn, and to ask questions about how they find medical school - I try to give our volunteers every opportunity to ask me questions about medical school, from admissions to residency applications, one-on-one for those who are interested.
Sign-ups for pre-meds interested in volunteering can be found here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeGp0aNGPt89NGFWuuchV1dUYe4loqcaIrYFgJDSCHGYi40eg/viewform?c=0&w=1
Ok, that does it for the shameless plugging for now. Will try to get back to a more normal posting schedule soon!
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