It’s hard to comprehend the amount of money, time, examinations, and sacrifice that one has to endure over their youth to pursue physician training. On reflection, it seems like a blur, but I still remember so many pivotal milestones in my career – my first patient encounter, my first code…
Last weekend, I attended my adult cardiothoracic anesthesiology fellowship graduation at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum followed by our Brigham departmental anesthesiology graduation ceremony on Wednesday. At the latter event, I was awarded the Fellow Of The Year award voted on by the current residents “in recognition…
With the number of patients receiving permanent pacemakers (PPMs) and implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) increasing each year, we’ll see more of these devices in our respective clinical settings. With this post, I’ll try to simplify pacemaker nomenclature and discuss some of the considerations surrounding magnets and device settings.
Throughout my training as a cardiothoracic anesthesiologist and intensivist, I’ve worked hand-in-hand with surgeons and circulating nurses in the operating room and ICU settings. We’ve seen patients make miraculous recoveries and others succumb to the natural course of their ailments. We’ve laughed together, had dinner together, consulted each other, and…
Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) like the HeartMate 3 are routinely being implanted as a mechanical circulatory bridge-to-transplant (BTT) or destination therapy (DT). My anesthetic plan for LVAD placement includes general endotracheal anesthesia, arterial line, central venous catheter (oftentimes with PA catheter), and intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE). In particular with…
Every day as an anesthesiologist, I reconstitute, draw up, and administer antibiotics, hypnotics, narcotics, paralytics, inotropes/pressors, blood products, fluids, vasodilators, and a myriad of other medications. Each year, the FDA receives over 100,000 reports associated with a suspected medication error causing hospitalization, life-threatening emergency, morbidity, and even death!
Orthotopic heart transplantations (OHTs) are some of my favorite procedures as a cardiothoracic anesthesiologist! After establishing general endotracheal anesthesia (GETA) with standard monitors, an arterial line, a central line (often with pulmonary artery catheter), large-bore peripheral intravenous (PIV) access, and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE), the remainder of the procedure is carefully…
In my first year of anesthesiology residency, I had the opportunity to do a very unique aortic valve replacement (AVR) case for aortic stenosis – the Ozaki repair performed by Dr. Ozaki himself! This incredible surgeon pioneered a technique using the patient’s own pericardium (lining that surrounds the heart) treated…
My old $100 tempered glass desk from Walmart that survived roughly five years between my residency and fellowships finally met its demise a few days ago. Coincidentally, it was the same weekend that I decided to revamp Orion with a Corsair H115i Pro RGB AIO CPU cooler (wonderful for overclocks),…
2018 was an amazing year! I obtained double board certification in anesthesiology and critical care medicine, transitioned to my adult cardiothoracic anesthesiology fellowship, and am so excited to be finishing my “formal” medical training in the next 6-7 months!