Our thoracic ICU rotation is perhaps the most difficult rotation we have as anesthesia critical care fellows. For two weeks, we’re q2 call (meaning on call every other day). The patients are super sick, but the pathologies are incredibly fascinating.
My fellowship is divided into two week blocks throughout the year. We rotate alongside fellows/residents from other departments and almost always in a multidisciplinary setting consisting of nurses, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, nutritionists, physical/occupational therapists, etc. I started my fellowship about a week later, so I could move from Houston. Here…
To become a board certified anesthesiologist, we must pass our two-part written boards. I took the $775 “basic exam” between my PGY-2 and PGY-3 years on 6/12/2015 and the $775 “advanced exam” on 7/28/2017. Just got word this week that I passed the advanced exam too. After passing the advanced…
As a critical care fellow, I’ll spend a total of two months (four, 2-week rotations) in the cardiac intensive care unit (ICU). I just finished my first rotation there and got to befriend many of the cardiac surgery attendings and fellows who I’ll be working alongside in the operating room…
It’s possible to utilize transthoracic echocardiography (TTE), a noninvasive technique, to estimate a patient’s cardiac output. I’ll use some images from an echo I performed on a patient with a depressed left ventricular ejection fraction on low dose pressors. Yes, I know the echo images aren’t perfect. :-PWe know that cardiac…
Due to the right ventricle’s (RV) unique geometry and cylindrical contraction pattern, assessing its function in echocardiography can be difficult. One of the more simple and reproducible techniques used to determine RV function is the tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE). This is easy to do at the bedside using…
I spent the last two weeks in the coronary care unit (CCU) as part of my first elective. Although the CCU is an ICU, the patients are much more “medical” than surgical, and therefore, present different challenges compared to what I saw at the beginning of my fellowship.
Moonlighting basically entails taking on paid work on top of my normal job. Our program restricts moonlighting hours to ~20 hours per month, so we remain focused on our fellowship at hand instead of lucrative opportunities to make extra money.
As of this morning (and assuming I passed), I’m officially finished with my anesthesiology written boards. Moving to a new city and starting fellowship made it difficult to study for the exam, but it’s finally over. Now I can turn my attention to studying critical care 100%… until my anesthesiology…
I’m finished with an eight day stretch of days/nights in our combined surgical, burn, and trauma ICU. What an incredible way to start off fellowship!