Anaesthesia!

[Guest TimmyMax]

Hey,

 

Anaesthesia rules! Post your questions here to find out why!

 

Best of luck!

Timmy

[Guest ploughboy]

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Ok, since you asked...

 

Why does anaesthesia rule, Timmy? Maybe it's a personality thing, or maybe I just don't know enough about the specialty, but gas is really far down on my list of preferred specialties. The only attraction for me is the fact that you guys have access to all the really really good drugs... (joking! joking!)

 

Is there more to it than putting people to sleep in ORs all day? Where do you see anaesth taking you in your career? I've heard that ICUs and CCUs are often run by anaesthetists, and they also do outpatient pain clinics - are there other career paths aside from watching people sleep all day?

 

Cheers,

 

pb

 

 

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[Guest TimmyMax]

Hey pb,

 

Some of the other gas passers can feel free to jump in on this one, but I feel that anaesthesia is truly the undiscovered specialty. I have to admit that gas was nowhere on my radar screen when I was at your stage of training, pb, and if I hadn't made a choice (albeit totally uninformed at the time) at the beginning of my surgery rotation to ditch my 2 weeks of ortho for 2 weeks of gas, I definitely would not have ended up in this specialty. Anaesthesia is cool because there is so much more to it than being in the OR, putting people to sleep and becoming addicted to your own drugs! There are a number of career paths possible and it is quite an exciting and diverse field!

One of the first things that I noticed about the field was how laid-back and happy the anaesthesiologists were! They were always so happy to have you hang out with them for the day and so eager and willing to teach and let you do things, regardless if it was your first intubation attempt or your fiftieth. Maybe it is a personality thing (I'm sure that there is definitely some contribution from that sphere), but I found that the types of people in the field were genuinely very kind and nice, without the demanding, fist-pounding, otherwise geeky personality types found in other fields- cough, cough! Medicine! Surgery! Cough, cough!

Secondly, there was the one-on-one educational factor. Since you were just sitting there in a one-on-one setting with your consultant, it was the perfect time to get all the nagging little questions that you ever had about medicine or life in general answered! Most consultants were very happy to share their knowledge about anything with you and you could pretty much ask them anything without having to worry about your question getting thrown back in your face or made fun of for it, such as the dreaded "That's a great question! Why don't you look it up yourself tonight and present it to the team tomorrow?". I found that during my time on anaesthesia, I learned so many things and filled so many gaps in my knowledge, from the very basic to the somewhat more advanced, just from talking with and being taught by my consultants. When you think about it, it's basically an ideal situation- lots of one-on-one with consultants (not like Internal Medicine team where you see your consultant for maybe 30-45 minutes a day, or General Surgery where you get beat on if you don't know something), and lots of opportunity for (personalized) learning, without having to worry about making an idiot of yourself in front of classmates, residents or visiting elective students. That was another definite strong point of anaesthesia.

Thirdly, there was the nature of the field. Personally, I am very interested in physiology and pharmacology and you have those things happening on the table right in front of you! It's fun to try and predict what will happen to the patient on your monitors before you administer a drug, thinking back to first principles as a medical student. It's also fun when you have a problem to solve, having to put together the pieces of the puzzle from the info that you hve courtest of your monitors. The properties of the drugs are very cool to learn about and so is their effect on the patient's physiology.

Fourth, there is the opportunity to do a ton of procedures! Anaesthesia is a field where you really get to work with your hands and actually do things as a medical student. It is perhaps the most technically demanding field, since you can be the smartest person in the world, but if suck with your hands and can't intubate worth a damn, you will make a @#%$ anaesthesiologist indeed! The skills involved (ie: starting IVs, intubations, starting arterial and central lines, etc.) are greatly transferable across a number of fields and anaesthesia is a great rotation where you can get a ton of practice doing them! Personally, I enjoy working with my hands and doing procedures, so it was a natural fit for me. Next up in the "to-do" list will be regional blocks, spinals, epidurals and bronchoscopies- not exactly things that you'll get to do as a medical student (although sometimes you luck out!), but exciting skills to look forward to learning as a resident.

Fifth, the lifestyle is pretty good. You don't have to keep an office nor hire/pay a staff since you're based out of the hospital, which provides everything that you need (including patients!). You get to show up and work all day in your pajamas and there is lots of time off (eventually, so I'm told!). Sadly, it is a specialty where you have to take call regularly and you're busy for potentially the whole night (unlike some services where "call" involves being woken up every two hours for a Tylenol order) doing cases when it's your turn. I guess it's not all sunshine and roses, but hell, if there weren't a few times when I was working my tail off, I'd get pretty worried!

Sixth, there is the relative acuity that a career in anaesthesia entails. With the exception of chronic pain clinic, everything that we do in anaesthesia is acute care, which suits me just fine because I'd much rather do something about somebody's condition than write out a problem list and have to endure countless walk-a-rounds, talk-a-rounds and sit-a-rounds before coming up with a plan of action (which is usually the same thing that you were initially going to do anyway). I'm definitely a doer rather than a planner (but planning is nonetheless an important component of anaesthesia), so I found that aspect of anaesthesia suited me very well.

Man, I could go on forever about this!

There are a ton of applications and career paths one can go into from an anaesthesia specilaty. These are cool because I didn't know that all of these poissbilities existed even when I initally made the decision to go for anaesthesia, so it's been a welcome and exciting surprise to find all of this info out! As you mentioned before, in most places, anaesthesia runs the ICUs, which is very cool. There is the chance to play a major role in obstetrics with your collection of drugs and well-placed needles (which always wins you brownie points and makes you well-loved amongst the nursing staff!). The is the opportunity to study regional anaesthesia and get involved with the pediatrics side of things (kids need surgery too!). There is also the acute pain service and the opportunity to participate in chronic pain management/clinics using your bag of tricks. In addition, there is the more high profile stuff, like being on code and trauma teams, in some centres.

So as you can see, there are a ton of reasons to go into anaesthesia. You are the expert on airway management, which makes you the go-to guy a lot of the time if there are any problems with respect to airway management. You are skilled at crisis management, running codes, doing procedures and being a cool, laid-back dude at the same time. Although it may appear that all an anaesthesiologist does in the OR is put the patient to sleep and then drink their coffee while doing the daily sudoku, that is quite a narrow-minded and wrong assessment! It's funny because anaesthesiologists are kind of like ninjas that way (or Chuck Norris, depending on your personal preference, but that's a story for another day), and I'm not talking about the silent, highly efficient killing machines either! I'm thinking more along the lines that they are there, ever lying in wait, always at the ready, for the right time to spring into action. Anyway, I'd better wrap this up before it gets too ridiculous!

Those are some of the reasons why anaesthesia rules. I didn't even get into the cool toys we get to play with, the research fellowships available and the kickass parties on CaRMS tour, so that'll have to wait for another day! Hope it was helpful!

 

Best of luck!

Timmy

[Guest noncestvrai]

Anesthesia is definitely in my top 3, I've done one week in the OR, baging, intubating and setting up IVs, this was my best week ever in medschool so far. I did some work in pain research in grad school, and the life style may give me the opportunity to do research as well.

 

Although I remain open minded for other fields, it is one that I strongly consider.

 

noncestvrai

[Guest kosmo14]

Well put Timmy. I couldn't agree more. I am very excited to start my residency this July as I am sure you are as well.

 

Just a couple more points (don't jump all over me for these posts either as they weren't my main reasons for choosing anesthesia just considerations)

 

1. Anesthesiologists are paid very well, and work relatively less hours than for that pay.

 

2. Most centers now have 16 hour call vs. 28-32 hours that you typically see in surgery and medicine

 

3. At the end of the day you go home and you don't have to worry about getting called because one of your patient is spiraling downhill

 

4. Jobs everywhere, almost every place in North America needs anesthesiologist.

 

5. It is portable. If you want to work in Vancouver and you live in Calgary make a few calls, pack up, and show up for work in your pajamas the next day. No practice to sell, no patients to leave abandoned.

 

6. Spend a day with most anesthesiologists and you will see despite thier laid back demeanor, they are extremely brilliant individuals with an enormous knowledge of most aspects of medicine (like internists but with technical skills)

 

Thats what I have to add.

[Guest noncestvrai]

I want to play devil's advocate...now tell me the down sides, because we all know that all specialties have a few.

 

noncestvrai

[Guest TimmyMax]

Hey,

 

There are a number of downsides to anaesthesia- like most things in life, it's not a rose garden, although I say it's pretty close.

Firstly, there is the fact that it is a specialty where you WILL have to take call, both as a resident and as a consultant. And the call is tough, it can be very demanding and you can anticipate being up for most of the night most nights. Although I am personally looking forward to call as a resident and consultant since that is where most of the "real" learning will come from, people who don't want to work hard may see this as a major drawback. Especially if they are looking to never take call again once they finish residency!

Secondly, you have to deal with surgeons and work closely with them. Although I don't have any horror stories myself, there seem to be enough stories floating around each hospital about which surgeons (OB/GYNs, urologists, orthos, neuros, etc.) are great to work with and which ones are absolute misery. Since you are going to find yourself on a team with these people, it is imperative that you establish a collegial relationship with them, even if they are unfairly demanding and difficult personalities to get along with. Some surgeons can't understand what exactly goes into giving someone an anesthestic, invasive monitoring, the importance of patient positioning, etc., and will @#%$ and complain about why their patient isn't ready and why they can't get started.

Thirdly, you are not your own boss. As alluded to above, you are a part of a surgical team and once that patient is seen by you pre-op, that patient becomes YOUR patient, in that YOU are ultimately responsible for what becomes of them, not the surgeon. If your surgeon sucks/is having a bad day and the operation is taking forever, you have to stick it out and see your patient through- you can't be like "Well, it's 4:30 PM and I have to take my son to hockey, so lots of luck, gentlemen!" and leave mid-operation. On that note, you will have short days and you will have days that never seem to end, depending on what comes through the hospital doors. At times, there are ways out of staying overly late (ie: signing off to on-call anaesthesiologist), but sometimes there is no way around it. As one anaesthesiologist so astutely put it: "There are two things that you need to succeed in this field. One is an understanding spouse and the other is a microwave oven!"- obviously point one doesn't apply if you are single, but you get the point.

Fourth, as alluded to above, you are bound to the progress of the operation and you may find yourself in situations taking care of things that were not necessarily your fault. As noted previously, any patient in the OR who you are giving an anaesthetic to becomes YOUR patient and you are responsible for seeing that patient successfully through surgery, no matter what happens. For example, if your surgeon sucks/is having a bad day/lets the incompetent resident/medical student operate and nicks the aorta, you are the one who has to keep that patient alive from the airway/breathing/circulation side of things, not the other way around. If a patient has an anaphylactic reaction/MI/PE during the operation, you have to manage it, regardless if it was something you did incorrectly or not. Often there is no way to tell who is going to have an adverse/anaphylactic/MH reaction to something that you give them intraoperatively, so you always have to be aware and recognize early that something is wrong and manage it accordingly.

Fifth, since you are responsible for every patient that you inherit, if they are not in optimal condition for surgery (impossible, sometimes, I realize), you may have to make an extremely unpopular decision to cancel the surgery. For example, if your surgical candidate has just had an MI and hasn't been worked up properly in terms of what their ejection fraction is since then (ie: echo, etc.), you should cancel the surgery. If your patient smokes a zillion packs a day and has a wicked URTI the morning of surgery, you'll need to cancel that case. Most times it won't be as simple as that and you may find yourself at odds with the surgical team over who should have their surgery and who needs to be rescheduled. That's where your good communicator skills come into play.

Sixth, anaesthesia has the highest rate of physician suicide and addiction/abuse to/of prescription drugs. If you have a past history of being suicidal and/or addiction/abuse to/of prescription drugs, maybe this isn't the right field for you to go into.

I'm sure that there are other drawbacks to the field as well, but those are the major ones that I can think of! Hope that it's been helpful!

 

Best of luck!

Timmy

 

P.S.: I don't want to hear from anyone saying that I'm making unfair blanket statements about surgeons being hard to get along with, etc., because although I'll be the first to admit that I have yet to have a really bad experience with one in an OR setting, there nonetheless exist surgeons out there with reputations for being difficult to work with and I'm sure that these stories aren't specific to London surgeons!

[Guest physiology]

As a lowly 2nd year medical student who has shadowed an anesthesiologist ONCE, I wanted to share my opinion too.

 

Honestly - I thought anaesthesia was incredibly boring. I've heard it being described as 99% boredom and 1% sheer terror.

 

Perhaps it was because I didn't know how to read the CXR or the ECGs, and nothing interesting really happened. (Ie. no malignant hyperthermia....where's the dantrolene sodium anyway?). My preceptor also had a GREAT bedside manner when he was reviving the patient post-op. He had such a soothing voice. If I went under, I'd wanna be with him.

 

It went something like this:

 

Doctor: "Okay Janet, you're coming out of surgery now."

Janet: "Brrrbhh...mmhhh.. brrrrhh"

Doctor: "I know it seemed fast Janet, but you did really well, it's almost over now."

Janet: "Brhhhh...I....caaan't breeeeeathe..<cough cough, sputter sputter>"

Doctor: "Okay Janet, I'll get that tube out of your mouth now, I know it makes you wanna gag..."

Janet: "It hurrrrrrts...ooohh"

Doctor: "Okay Janet, we'll get you some pain meds to manage that okay?"

 

Doctor: "Okay...1, 2, 3....LIFT....." and off to the post-op suite

 

However, I won't bash anaesthesia too much. I have never intubated or done a bronchoscopy and I haven't rotated through the service. In BC, anaesthesia training is very "adaptable." If you decide after 2 years of training to obtain a general license, you can drop out of the residency. Some residents do do this, particularly when they make their way to smaller rural communities and they realize that they can work as GP-anaesthesiologists (with full billings..I might add...).

 

Anaesthesiology training can also lead to fellowships in pain medicine (it's competitive to get into and the fellowship exams are as hard as hell...), the ICU, pediatrics, etc.

[Guest TimmyMax]

Hey,

 

All observerships are boring when you are a lowly 2nd year (or lowlier 1st year) student and you don't get to do much (if anything at all). We won't hold it against you! :lol

 

Best of luck!

Timmy

[Guest satsumargirl]

Hey!

 

I don`t really know that much about anesthesiology...but the last short while I have been thinking it may be in my list of things to explore (though one of my PBL tutors was an anesthesiologist and he said it is pretty hard to do an anesthesiology elective at Ottawa...I forget the ranking but there are a tonne of people in line and not even all med students/residents).

 

One reason why I think it would be interesting is that (I believe) it would incorporate all systems. I really liked my cardio block but not so sure I love it so much that I would only want to do cardio. Not loving my resp block right now, but I don`t really hate it either. I also had the chance to practice intubating (dummies - baby and adult - neat dummies there is a crack noise if you hit the teeth and the stomach inflates if you missed the airway) and it was pretty fun! I like the idea of actually doing stuff.

(In all likelihood I think I will end up a neurologist....I keep trying to have an open mind and explore but always seem to go back there) But even in anesthesiology I guess there would have to be a tiny bit of neuro with the whole pain management stuff.

 

So my very general question is....do anesthesiologists tend to be those who really love pharmacology? It seems to be such a drug oriented specialty. And to be honest I don`t love pharmacology. And I can't stomach most pain research I have read about.

 

Thanks!

[Guest noncestvrai]

y0 physio, for my only week in anes, as a lowly med II, I was setting up IVs, intubating, baging, giving some remifentanyl, fluids...doing pre-op assessments...definitely not just observing, and this makes a so-so experience a great one, in my book.

 

Definitely do an elective if you want to know more about the field, and don't be shy to do things, your preceptor will see that you have confidence and will give you more things to do.

 

Have fun!

 

noncestvrai

[Guest supa76]

these are the kinds of posts that keep me coming back to this board. thanks Timmy!

 

i wish new residents of other specialites would share their enthusiam with us too...

 

supa

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hey,

 

That's a great idea, re: other recent CaRMS matchees starting threads such as Timmy has re: the pros/cons of their chosen field. It really adds good insight on these fields, as based on the above posts from Timmy, there were a bunch of factors that were brought to light that I'd never considered before. Any takers?

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

[Guest TimmyMax]

Hey,

 

Aww, thanks guys! Glad to see that I'm not wasting my time posting here!

NCV, that's great that you got to do so much on your elective/observership! Anaesthesia is one of the few fields where you can actually do something (a lot of things actually) hands-on right off the bat, so it's great that you were able to really get involved in your patient's care- I find that the amount of 'doing' in an elective/rotation experience in a field is directly proportional to how much enjoyment and education I get out of it, which is one of the main reasons that anaesthesia caught my eye.

As with most things in life, you only get out what you put in- it's the classic garbage in, garbage out scenario. If you are/seem apathetic and disinterested, your preceptors will catch on to this and not offer you as much chance to do things as if you are right in there and willing to do stuff- this applied to all medical fields, not just anaesthesia, btw!

I'm not sure what else I was going to add in this reply, so I guess I'll cut it off here. Maybe, Kirsteen, if you were interested in hearing from the recent CaRMS matchees, you could drop a wee note in the Moderators' Corner asking people to post a little comment as to why they chose the field that they did. I think that this is a great idea and will serve the general community so much better, especially the medical students trying to make up their minds about what they want to do/be for the rest of their lives!

 

Best of luck!

Timmy

 

P.S.: It's funny that you should mention the intubating dummies, Satsumargirl, because during our ACLS course, there was this one station that featured intubating dummies and a classmate of mine who was interested in anaesthesia took a stance where he felt that intubating the dummies was beneath him, so he instead lectured everyone else in his group on the "proper" way to intubate (irrespective of what the person running the station, an RT, said). Anyway, when it came to be his turn, much to the amusement of the rest of his group, he wasn't able to intubate the dummy! Talk about poetic justice!

[Guest TimmyMax]

Hey,

 

Just thought that I'd add an entry to this thread, which will become my little anaesthesia residency blog, I guess.

Not even a week after matching, I was emailed by the anaesthesia department at UWO, looking for my personal information so that they could get me set up on payroll- that's probably when things began to sink in that I'd actually have a job come July and they might even go so far as to pay me for it, although I'm not certain that I'd be worth the investment. After a good 2 weeks of sloth on my part (some due to Tachycardia, most of it due to sloth), I finally sent in my personal data so that I could be hooked up.

A few days after that, there was another email from my department asking for what electives I wanted to take. I was like "Whoa! It just feels like I matched yesterday! Give me some time here!". Of course, I didn't respond for a few days- I had so many questions and I was too busy looking up and emailing the people who had also matched to UWO with me (and going to class as part of the 4th year Transition Period here at UWO) to care about such trivial things. The office emailed me again a few times and I emailed my program director (I had questions about how much time I could spend in Windsor next year as a PGY-1) plus a few friends that I have in the anaesthesia program here at UWO in the year above me, seeking their advice.

Re-reading one of the emails that the office sent me, asking me to please make my elective choices, I noticed that there was a second part to it- something about registration for the ASA/ABA exam to be held on July 8th, 2006!!! ASA stands for Anesthesiology Society of America (or something along those lines, the point being that they are basically the American governing body for my specialty), and apparently they have this big-assed exam that everyone in anaesthesia at UWO has to write (except for the 2nd years- lcuky bastards). Since I already had set in motion plans to go to New Zealand for all of June, returning on the 28th of June, let's see, that left me with all of 10 days to study for this thing, assuming that my ar$e wasn't too jet-lagged/sick from my time on the other side of the world.

In a panic, I again emailed my PD, who had since gotten back to me, telling me, much to my delight, that I could do as much of my PGY-1 year in Windsor. Again, my PD got back to me prompty (he's great at that and definitely a major reason why I wanted to stay here at UWO) and told me basically that it was a placement exam only and to not bother studying for it, which was honestly music to my ears. No studying for me!

Although my friends from the year above hadn't yet gotten back to me about which IM electives I should choose (most people choose rads, cards or resp), I went ahead and sent in my information for the ASA exam as well as my elective choices for the following year. I chose Cards and Resp as my 2 IM electives for PGY-1, as well as a request to do my OB/GYN, Paeds and Gen Surg rotations down in Windsor, since I did those rotations down there as a clerk and had an absolute blast!

No word yet on whether these requests have been approved/denied, but I do know that the Windsor staff that I saw/spoke to over this past were very excited at: a) my match results and the prospects of my returning to Windsor as a resident. That was very heartening and definitely represented one of the major advantages of doing rotations down in Windsor- everybody knows your name and they're always glad you came. It's definitely a place where you can see our troubles are all the same. Who wouldn't want to go where everybody knows your name?!? :lol

 

Best of luck!

Timmy

[Guest muchdutch]

This is a great thread. I'm learning so much! You should do a blog TM - I would read it, so it wouldn't be in vain. I'm sure others would too.

 

So what about these kickass carms tour parties?!?!!!?

[Guest satsumargirl]

ASA stands for Anesthesiology Society of America (or something along those lines, the point being that they are basically the American governing body for my specialty), and apparently they have this big-assed exam that everyone in anaesthesia at UWO has to write

 

Ah...UWO!! So all schools don`t require you to write this exam?

 

I just picked up on this because I noticed while I was at UWO that sometimes they seem a little Amercican. I remember thinking that...but don`t recall all my reasons why. One that comes to mind is the fact that they spell HONOURS like the Americans (HONORS) on everything including your degree.

 

Anyway...made me laugh a little!

 

Sats

 

PS....that was a funny story about the guy and the dummy!

[Guest TimmyMax]

Hey,

 

Ah...UWO!! So all schools don`t require you to write this exam?

 

I'm sure that eventually, everyone will have to write the ASA exam; just not in 1st year, a mere 8 days into their residency program! I might be wrong, of course (I have been known to be wrong about things in my day), but within the little email community that the CaRMS Anaesthesia applicants set up amongst themselves, there wasn't any mention of having to write the ASA exam that second weekend in July!

Glad you dug the story about the dummy- it's one of my faves!

As for more practical things, I emailed my program secretary asking about my rotation placements and timings. It seems that everything (PGY-1 scheduling) in London is decided on a city-wide basis, so I guess I'm going to have to wait. In the meantime, there is the small order of the Transition Period (I skipped all my classes today- shame on me!), and a certain licensing exam to study for, so I guess I shouldn't get ahead of myself. There's also this big-assed package that UWO sent me with all these forms to fill out and stuff- doesn't look like a lot of fun. Came with the nice, little Schulich Schul of Medicine (and Dentistry too) logo in the top left corner, which was impressive and official looking. I think I'll wait until after Tachycardia (which runs April 6-8, 2006) to work on all that stuff and study for the MCCQE. Well, I have been studying for the MCCQE for the past few weeks, but on a pretty lackadasical (sp?) basis. Once Tachycardia is over and doen with, that will serve as my wakeup call.

On a completely unrelated note, we got this email in the middle of the night a week ago telling us that we needed to be fitted for our graduation garb/swag- it has a cool name, but I can't remember it right now. It was basically a cash-grab by the University (but not nearly as bad as U of T, so I'm told), where they fit you for a gown and a cap, take your money and try to sell you nice frames for your diploma at a reduced, "early bird" price. If they didn't say "Schulich Medicine" at the bottom, they might have had a deal. Oh well, looks like I'll be going the Bookstore route on this one- at least they say University of Western Ontario at the bottom! Or maybe I'll just get my sister to frame it, like she did with my undergraduate degree- much cheaper and nicer results! Yeah, that sounds like a plan.

Anyway, that's all I've got for today! Hopefully they don't misspell 'Honours' on my degree! Stupid University of Wealthy Ontarians!

 

Best of luck!

Timmy

[Guest ploughboy]

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Thread hijack - is the rumour true that the '06s won the Tachy cup in their second year and are going for a repeat this year? Opening night tonight - woo-hoo!

 

As you were everyone. Resume passing gas...

 

pb

 

 

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[Guest TimmyMax]

Hey,

 

Yeah, the rumour is true. "Dude, where's my professionalism?" was voted the best Tachycardia class skit back in 2004. We are definitely gunning for the repeat, which I think, would be unprecedented.

If you don't believe me, you can check the Tachycardia Cup!

 

Best of luck!

Timmy

[Guest TimmyMax]

Hey,

 

You can make that Tachy Cup x2 for the Class of 2006 as "Dial 'M' for Murder...but also for Match Results" was voted the winner again this year, bringing to a close a great Tachycardia run of 3 nights by all four classes! The Tachycardia Pub that followed at The Wave was truly a night to be remembered, as I'm sure that the numerous after-parties were as well! Congratulations to all that participated in Tachycardia this year in all ways, shapes and forms and here's looking forward to an even better show next year!

 

Best of luck!

Timmy

[Guest ploughboy]

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Hey there,

 

And a well-deserved win it was, too! An excellent job all-around, although the lead singer of the band on Saturday was a little sketchy...

 

People in my class are still quoting lines from your production ("I'm so bad at this..."). Mind you, it is only Tuesday. My personal favourite was the bathroom dance sketch - that must have take a lot of practice. Well done!

 

Getting back to anesth...What are the main differences between a 5-year Royal College Gas programme and a 2+1 CCFP anesth residency? I've heard that after a few years of practice the CCFP 2+1 emerg grads are indistinguishable from the 5-year grads. Is the same true for gas?

 

Cheers,

 

pb

 

 

 

 

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[Guest kosmo14]

The main diff is the ability to handle the more complicated cases and therefore work in a bigger center. Any city greater than 50000 would for the most part require RCPS trained anethetist.

 

Certainly a CCFP anethetist wouldn't be handling neuro, CV, transplant, or the class 3 or greater type patients as there is much more involved in giving an anesthetic on these patients.

 

They say you can train most people to give an anesthetic in a year, its the ability to deal with the complications that may arise that takes 5 years to learn.

[Guest TimmyMax]

Hey pb,

 

Thanks for the kind words and glad that you enjoyed the play! After watching the offerings of the other classes, I wasn't so sure that we were going to have it locked up, especially after two of our class' scenes (including mine!) tied for the Best Song/Dance caption award, which usually, along with the Funniest Moment caption, are awarded exclusively to classes that don't win the Tachycardia Cup- made for a few anxious moments in our camp! But overall, it came together pretty nicely.

The bathroom dance party sequence was pretty technical and a lot of practice went into it- I wasn't in that one, since I can only dance at gunpoint!

As for the singer on the Saturday night- what a hack! I could have done such a better job! He was pretty good-looking though, I must admit!

 

Best of luck!

Timmy

[Guest TimmyMax]

Hey,

 

Not much to report on the residency front. In terms of our scheduling, I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but everything is done city-wide in London, which means that I won't find out until mid-June. That kind of bites because I asked for 3 months in Windor and I'd kind of like to know how that turned out!

As for everything else, well with Transition Period and all of its associated mind-numbing, time-consuming lectures, assignments, quizzes, exams and other LMCC-studying-detracting busy work over and done with, the focus has definitely turned to studying for LMCC in earnest. I write on the 12th of May, which was the last day possible to write here in London, by design. I'd gladly take the extra few days' worth of studying- no one ever seems to complain of over-studying for such a thing! Some people are different, but frankly, I'll take the trade of sweating it out a few extra days for the extra wiggle-room any day! It's nice to know that if the hockey game I happen to be watching goes into OT, I won't have to worry about its potential impact on my future!

Other than that, there are a few more sobering things that we have to do before we start residency. One of them was to register with the UWO Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies (FPGS), which was easy enough (relatively speaking, of course!), but cost it me a cool $325. A lot better than the $32,500 or so that we pay in medical school tuition, but with my attempts to conserve as much money as possible between now and the 27th of May to fuel my trip abroad to New Zealand, it was still another kick in the nuts that I didn't need. Oh yeah, that and the fact that my computer died last Thursday night due to a burned out power supply- it is almost 4 years old now, so I guess it's prime fan-burning out time, but still, another $115 to get it fixed- d'oh!

Anyway, back to the paperwork. You start to feel more and more like this isn't some kind of dream you are going to wake up from any second once you go and download your CPSO and CMPA forms. You feel even more like a resident when you start getting mail addressed to you with the title of "Dr." rather than "Mr.". Although it was just stuff from the MCC, which seemed a bit presumptuous to me, to be perfectly honest, it was still cool to get mail addressing you as "Dear Doctor". I kept that one. In fact, I think that I've kept all the pieces of mail like that! I'm such a geek!

Other than that, not much is up. I've seen some of my classmates all stressed out about a number of things, mostly the MCCQE, but also more trivial things, like filling out CPSO and CMPA forms or what to wear to convocation- my class is funny that way. Actually, it's kind of annoying and has made me avoid the school like the plague during any exam period. The nervous nellies drive me up the wall. Especially the internal medicine keeners, who like to stand around the LRC, debating answers to questions about conditions no one has heard of and even fewer people actually have. But anyway, I digress...

Other than that, not much is up. My payroll stuff for the London hospitals is all submitted, which is nice. My residency orientation is scheduled for the 28th of June or something, which will probably be a wash, since I'll have just gotten back from New Zealand the day before, which is like 12 hours ahead (or is it 16 hours ahead?) and I'm sure I'll be jet-lagged like nobody's business. Oh well, a small price to pay in my mind for four weeks of freedom, sweet freedom!

Anyway, that's all I've got for tonight. Hope everyone is well and I'll post again soon, if anything changes. Until then, take care!

 

Timmy