Anatomy and Anesthesia

[cfdavid]

Hey guys. As some of you may know, I'm starting MS1 this August. In a few weeks, I'm taking a summer histology class (not in the med school) for kicks as preparation for my first block.

It's obvious that surgeons must have a major handle on anatomy and histology. So too, it seems must an anesthesiologist given all of the various procedures and blocks etc.

Besides everything, what should I focus on as I slug my way through anatomy this fall (as pertain directly to anesthesia)? Don't get me wrong, I know I'll need to know it all for boards, but you know what I mean.

(holy ****, I just noticed I hit the 1000 post mark! lol)

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[blocks]

Hey guys. As some of you may know, I'm starting MS1 this August. In a few weeks, I'm taking a summer histology class (not in the med school) for kicks as preparation for my first block.

It's obvious that surgeons must have a major handle on anatomy and histology. So too, it seems must an anesthesiologist given all of the various procedures and blocks etc.

Besides everything, what should I focus on as I slug my way through anatomy this fall (as pertain directly to anesthesia)? Don't get me wrong, I know I'll need to know it all for boards, but you know what I mean.

(holy ****, I just noticed I hit the 1000 post mark! lol)

Veins, arteries, nerves. Head and neck anatomy...and everything else.

 

[Trisomy13]

surgeons have a handle on histology?

 

[chicamedica]

surgeons have a handle on histology?

Yeah i was just gonna make the same comment. . .
Pathologists care about histo, not surgeons.

And YEAh i think anatomy is very important for anesthesiologists to know. . .as was mentioned in the surg forum, anesthesiologists should know how the surgeries are done, because u gotta know what to expect physiologically at each stage of the surgery (and cause it makes the whole job that much more interesting). I personally love anatomy. . .dont care that much about diggin thru it though, which is why i'm not gonna be on the other side of the curtain. However, if you dont like anatomy i think u'll still be ok in anesthesiology. . .i could be wrong.


p.s. i forgot. . .for regional anesthesia u gotta know where those nerves are (and what you're goin thru). . .so i retract that last statement. . .u really gotta know ur anatomy.

 

[VentdependenT]

Hey guys. As some of you may know, I'm starting MS1 this August. In a few weeks, I'm taking a summer histology class (not in the med school) for kicks as preparation for my first block.

It's obvious that surgeons must have a major handle on anatomy and histology. So too, it seems must an anesthesiologist given all of the various procedures and blocks etc.

Besides everything, what should I focus on as I slug my way through anatomy this fall (as pertain directly to anesthesia)? Don't get me wrong, I know I'll need to know it all for boards, but you know what I mean.

(holy ****, I just noticed I hit the 1000 post mark! lol)

Regional anesthesia is all about anatomical relations and knowing where you are in a plexi based on the muscle twitch response you achieve. Plus its cool to see people's limbs flap around involuntarily...hopefully its not from that 30 ml of ropivacaine going into their axillary artery.

Check out a peripheral nerve block book in yer local med school text store.

 

[aredoubleyou]

Anatomy will come up over and over again during med school - its worth learning as well as you can during the formal course. Histology, on the other hand, will rarely come up and only be brought up if someone who is pimping you hasn't made you look like an idiot YET and has to dig deep. That being said, you have to pass both, and both will come up again on boards. Of course, the more physiology you can jam into your head, by far the better cause that is central to not only anesthesia but also medicine. But all the physiology in the world wont help you if you dont pass the stupid histology class.

 

[jetproppilot]

Anatomy will come up over and over again during med school - its worth learning as well as you can during the formal course. Histology, on the other hand, will rarely come up and only be brought up if someone who is pimping you hasn't made you look like an idiot YET and has to dig deep. That being said, you have to pass both, and both will come up again on boards. Of course, the more physiology you can jam into your head, by far the better cause that is central to not only anesthesia but also medicine. But all the physiology in the world wont help you if you dont pass the stupid histology class.

Uhhh, Dudes, heres another revelation from The Private Practice Side.

Had a case with one of our deft neurosurgeons several years ago. Cant remember specifics, but it was a craniotomy for whatever reason...and Dr Drer*(& the neurosurgeon performed it deftly.

Afterwards, I was tryin' to remember all my neuro s hit....CN 3 opens, CN 7 closes.... etc etc

so I inquisitively asked neurosurgeon X a specific cranial nerve question, out of ignorance, trying to learn something.

He replied,

"Dude, you dont expect me to remember that sh it, do ya??"

Not posting this experience to ridicule him.

Am posting this experience to illustrate that SPECIFIC academic details may be forgotten when you are a private practice dude (in any specialty) doing 400-800 cases annually. And as long as you know where to put the needle/resect the tumor/resect the lamina/etc

the academic banter is just background noise.

Heres an example.

I consider myself deft at interscalene blocks.

I remember the anatomy, somewhat.

I know my needle needs to be between the anterior and middle scalene muscles.

But those words mean nothing when I'm doing the block.

My left index finger is doing all the talking, since my left index finger knows what it feels like to plunge in between the anterior/middle scalene muscles.

All the academic-anatomical description in the world means nothing. My left index finger knows whether I'm in the right space or not. Pure touch-memory. Nothing more, nothing less. And once the left index finger feels it,

BOOM.

Confidence. Go ahead. Squirt the local anesthetic cuz I know I'm where I need to be.

Guess I'm saying that yeah, anatomy is important for you when you are learning. And yeah, it continues to be important, somewhat, when you are practicing.

But once you figure out a procedure,

its all about FEEL. Its tactical.

i.e. an epidural.

A skilled clinician does not need sight to hit the epidural space.

Pressure on the glass syringe will fall away when you hit the ES. Eyes open or eyes closed, your hands are telling you whether you are there or not.

Alot of our business is FEEL.

Learn the anatomy as a young grasshoppa.

Then do a thousand or two.

After that, eyes-open is an option.