As CA-1s, we each get a dedicated “reading week” assigned randomly throughout the calendar year, and mine happens to end today. While I was required to attend all conferences and lectures, this was the first extended break I had as a PGY-2.
Last week, I was the resident in charge of overseeing the post anesthesia care unit (PACU). Every morning, I checked the stat room to make sure it was set up for an emergent case and performed an inventory on our airway boxes for stat intubations around the hospital. Then I proceed to the pre-op…
Hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day! I’m off to an early start this morning trying to get some studying in before my swing shift (12pm – 8pm) today. Early parts of swing shifts consist of breaking out my colleagues from their respective operating rooms, so they can grab lunch.…
I’m two months into my CA-1 year and only just beginning to learn how to study clinical anesthesiology. In other words, the last two months have been filled with rapid fire knowledge and on-the-spot learning interspersed with some didactic sessions on Mondays and Wednesdays – I feel like I’ve not…
So proud of my alma mater’s response to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge! Congrats to all the participants for continuing to raise awareness for this great cause!
I’m eating breakfast and reviewing good ‘ol pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics before my call shift this afternoon, but I wanted to drop a quick blurb about the four days I spent in anesthesia pre-op screening clinic last week. The overall purpose of this clinic is to determine if patients are safe…
Medical trainees are taught how to listen to patients’ chief complaints and decide how to pursue a diagnostic work-up. Atypical chest pain, acute appendicitis, kidney stones, and a myriad of other diagnoses all have particular “classic symptoms” patients often reference in their history; however, what happens when patients can’t talk to you?…
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…
I’m coming off a ridiculously busy Friday call shift, but I wanted to reflect on my first month of being a second year resident (PGY2, or CA1 in anesthesia land). I’ll be honest – at first, I missed aspects of internal medicine. The concept of “working up” a patient is…
This post is incredibly short, but it marks the completion of my last day as a first year (“intern”) resident. Beginning tomorrow, I’ll be a PGY2 (or a CA1 in anesthesia land). I’m pretty anxious about being on my own in the operating arena, so we’ll see how it goes.