Between my first month at the VA and (nearly) two weeks at Ben Taub General Hospital (BTGH), I’m becoming more comfortable with the operating room and performing anesthetics. Having the opportunity to learn two very popular anesthesia machines (Datex-Ohmeda and Drager Apollo) in two very busy clinical environments with a wide breath of cases and patients was challenging at first. As I’ve said in previous posts, the learning curve in anesthesiology is incredibly steep, but residents learn quickly (one way or another). 🙂 Now I’m becoming more aware of time management, anesthetic considerations, and intraoperative maintenance while polishing my procedural skills.
As a med student and resident trainee, BTGH always felt like home. The trauma center is one of the busiest in the country and consequently has us on our heels at all times. My call shifts were front-loaded this month, and I have another one tonight… on the weekend… which is bad. I feel like when the rest of Houston is partying, call residents, nurses, and ancillary staff are left to clean up the mess. We’ll see if these afternoon rain showers discourage accidents tonight.
It’s hard for me to nap before call, so I’ve been playing Team Fortress 2 and Clash of Clans while eating some watermelon (seedless FTW). Basically, a whole lot of mental and physical relaxation for the shift to come.
I hope it’s enough! 😯
