Anesthesia elective questions

[Guest nokiatunes]

Im going to be doing an anesthesia elective soon and i got a quicky question;

 

are we expected to know the dosages for anesthesic drugs at the clerkship stage?? its seems like a lot to know! and besides, we can look it up right

 

anythoughts would be appreciated!

[Guest medicator007]

Having done an anes elective, i'll try and answer your question.

 

You should certainly have some familiarity with the major anes meds... but to know the dosing is going to be a bit tricky, mostly because in my experience EVERY anaesthesiologist has his/her own little cocktail. You want to get an idea for the ranges... ie.. do not order fentanyl 100 mg, etc... I would also be sure i knew the standard emergency meds, and knowing the MACs for the standard inhalational agents comes in handy.

 

What is more important and what was emphasized during my time in anes, is knowing the mechanisms of actions of the drugs and for example why you would choose one muscle relaxant over another or one local anaesthetic over another.

 

So in short.. i wouldn't worry about the doses, keepin general.

 

Medicator

[Guest kosmo14]

I agree with medicator especially when it comes to each anesthesiologist having thier own cocktail. Knowing some of the commonly used drug dosages will be useful (propofol, morphine, fentanyl, midaz ...) and the dosages of the emerg drugs (atropine, neo/phenyleph, sux, ephedrine). Also knowing limits of drugs esp. locals seems to be a common question (ie/ what is the max. dose of lidocaine w and w/o epi).

 

Hope this helps, enjoy you elective in the best specialty there is.

[Guest Ian Wong]

Floating back to the top...

 

Ian