Anes. Techs, OR Techs, Surgical Techs?

[189362]

Come one come all. So I have a proposed position at a Trauma 1 center working as an Anesthesia Tech. At the end of the 10 week Externship I will accumulated 640 clinical hours. As an anes. tech we draw blood gases, run TEGs, assist in difficult intubations, assist in A-line, CVP line, Neck line (IJ) placements, cell saving, rapid infuser systems, fluid management, gas machine trouble shooting, I even have extensive knowledge of transplantation roles of anesthesia... ect ect. Point is we do a lot, and the experience is considerable.

I am hoping I can get a job with a area hospital back in my home state. Regardless my question is for those of you who are appling have applied and are accepted , or just knowledgable on the subject; would these clinical hours and prospective employment be favorable on a medical school app.?

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[189362]

Come one come all. So I have a proposed position at a Trauma 1 center working as an Anesthesia Tech. At the end of the 10 week Externship I will accumulated 640 clinical hours. As an anes. tech we draw blood gases, run TEGs, assist in difficult intubations, A-line, CVP line, Neck line (IJ) placements, cell saving, rapid infuser systems, fluid management, gas machine trouble shooting, I even have extensive knowledge of transplantation procedures and roles of anesthesia... ect ect. Point is we do a lot, and the experience is considerable.

I am hoping I can get a job with a area hospital back in my home state. Regardless my question is for those of you who are appling have applied and are accepted , or just knowledgable on the subject; would these clinical hours and prospective employment be favorable on a medical school app.?

 

[DrMidlife]

Absolutely. That's awesome experience.

 

[mfrizzo3]

They would be some pretty awesome EC's. I'll trade you.😎😎

 

[Blade28]

Definitely!

Which program is this? The AA (Anesthesiologist Assistant) program?

 

[jwk]

Come one come all. So I have a proposed position at a Trauma 1 center working as an Anesthesia Tech. At the end of the 10 week Externship I will accumulated 640 clinical hours. As an anes. tech we draw blood gases, run TEGs, assist in difficult intubations, A-line, CVP line, Neck line (IJ) placements, cell saving, rapid infuser systems, fluid management, gas machine trouble shooting, I even have extensive knowledge of transplantation roles of anesthesia... ect ect. Point is we do a lot, and the experience is considerable.

I am hoping I can get a job with a area hospital back in my home state. Regardless my question is for those of you who are appling have applied and are accepted , or just knowledgable on the subject; would these clinical hours and prospective employment be favorable on a medical school app.?

I'm just curious - where are you getting this training?

No place I know of would let an anesthesia tech place a-lines or any type of central lines. Is this one of the Canadian programs by any chance?

 

[lapelirroja]

Yeah, I'm definitely surprised. The jobs for Anes techs in my area are purely technical--helping to maintain the machines and troubleshoot them, etc. They all say on-the-job training and HS diploma will suffice. Nothing as exciting as that! If your position will really be like that I am truly envious--sounds awesome! And I think your clinical school of choice would definitely view that as great experience.

 

[189362]

I'm just curious - where are you getting this training?

No place I know of would let an anesthesia tech place a-lines or any type of central lines. Is this one of the Canadian programs by any chance?

Im sorry I should've made it clear, we assist in placement of the lines. We along with the CRNA and Anesthesiologist will get sterile (wash,gloved,and gowned) and maintain a sterile field while passing along the proper catheters, guide wires, needles and aid or float the Swan Ganz catheters. Also def. not Canadian. No offense to any Canadians.

So to my original question. Would Adcom favor the clinical exp.?

I ask because I have another year of undergrad to complete, and I have recently taken on a major with two minors and a certificate. So the workload is substantial, and I need to maintain my gpa. If it would look good on a app profile I would try to get the job. But if it wont make too much of a difference I'd rather just focus on my schoolwork as opposed to busting my *** for an entire schoolastic semester while working (prob partime weekends Im guessing like 20-25 hours).

Helllllllllllllllllllp!

 

[core0]

Im sorry I should've made it clear, we assist in placement of the lines. We along with the CRNA and Anesthesiologist will get sterile (wash,gloved,and gowned) and maintain a sterile field while passing along the proper catheters, guide wires, needles and aid or float the Swan Ganz catheters. Also def. not Canadian. No offense to any Canadians.

So to my original question. Would Adcom favor the clinical exp.?

I ask because I have another year of undergrad to complete, and I have recently taken on a major with two minors and a certificate. So the workload is substantial, and I need to maintain my gpa. If it would look good on a app profile I would try to get the job. But if it wont make too much of a difference I'd rather just focus on my schoolwork as opposed to busting my *** for an entire schoolastic semester while working (prob partime weekends Im guessing like 20-25 hours).

Helllllllllllllllllllp!

I'm confused about the question. What type of Adcom are you directing this at. If you are looking at AA programs I'll defer to JWK. For PA programs this would be considered good experience. I would be concerned that some programs may not consider this as direct patient care. My experience is similar to JWK's. The anesthesia techs help maintain the equipment, they really don't do much with patient care. CST is traditionally a good way to get into PA school. Roughly 30% of new grad PAs go directly into surgery. While all PA programs give some instruction in surgery, and rotations in surgery are required, a CST will give you an advantage in the initial job search (in my opinion).

David Carpenter, PA-C

 

[189362]

Yea I will be applying to medical schools for 2010. It just doesnt seem that patient care would take priority over the clinical setting exp, then again I could be completly wrong here.

 

[189362]

Anesthesia Technician I should have clarified better. I assist IN the placement of lines. Ill get sterile (scrub, gown, and gloves) and help usually the Anesthisiologist, because when I get to do this it is for bigger cases like, Organ Transplants (a lot of living related).

 

[core0]

Yea I will be applying to medical schools for 2010. It just doesnt seem that patient care would take priority over the clinical setting exp, then again I could be completly wrong here.

From my understanding most adcoms could care less if you had any clinical experience. However, you might check in the pre-all or pre-osteo areas.

David Carpenter, PA-C

 

[189362]

Thanks

 

[canjosh]

Just remember that since you will be a technician, much of your work will be technical in nature. IOW, not clinical. It will still be valuable experience. Just don't be disappointed if the day-to-day stuff is more menial than you are currently envisioning. Again, I'm not saying it won't be valuable experience...you will undoubtedly gain clinical knowledge while performing your technical duties. Good luck.

 

[bryanboling5]

From my understanding most adcoms could care less if you had any clinical experience. However, you might check in the pre-all or pre-osteo areas.

David Carpenter, PA-C

I've got several friends in med school and they've told me if it's between experience and grades, choose grades. One guy told me that there are several people in his class where the extent of their "experience" was handing out warm blankets in an ER a few hours a night, one night a week for a semester. But they had good GPA, whereas several people applied with GREAT experience doing jobs like you've described but in more patient care centered areas (like ERs) and had sub-par grades and didn't get in. But, like David said, ask in the pre-allo boards, they know better.

 

[kronickm]

Just remember that since you will be a technician, much of your work will be technical in nature. IOW, not clinical. It will still be valuable experience. Just don't be disappointed if the day-to-day stuff is more menial than you are currently envisioning. Again, I'm not saying it won't be valuable experience...you will undoubtedly gain clinical knowledge while performing your technical duties. Good luck.

l
V

"If you are close enough to "smell patients", it is a clinical experience."

 

[jlittlej]

Did you do a community college program for anesthesia tech to get this or something?

 

[njbmd]

Come one come all. So I have a proposed position at a Trauma 1 center working as an Anesthesia Tech. At the end of the 10 week Externship I will accumulated 640 clinical hours. As an anes. tech we draw blood gases, run TEGs, assist in difficult intubations, A-line, CVP line, Neck line (IJ) placements, cell saving, rapid infuser systems, fluid management, gas machine trouble shooting, I even have extensive knowledge of transplantation procedures and roles of anesthesia... ect ect. Point is we do a lot, and the experience is considerable.

I am hoping I can get a job with a area hospital back in my home state. Regardless my question is for those of you who are appling have applied and are accepted , or just knowledgable on the subject; would these clinical hours and prospective employment be favorable on a medical school app.?

It's experience and any extracurricular experience adds to your complete application but remember that all of the clinical experience in the world will not make up for less than competitive performances in the rest of your application. The main criteria for acceptance into medical school is still uGPA/MCAT. Keep everything high and enjoy your job.

 

[deleted6669]

I've got several friends in med school and they've told me if it's between experience and grades, choose grades. One guy told me that there are several people in his class where the extent of their "experience" was handing out warm blankets in an ER a few hours a night, one night a week for a semester. But they had good GPA, whereas several people applied with GREAT experience doing jobs like you've described but in more patient care centered areas (like ERs) and had sub-par grades and didn't get in. But, like David said, ask in the pre-allo boards, they know better.

so basically the opposite of pa school admissions(at the better programs anyway....)

 

[bryanboling5]

so basically the opposite of pa school admissions(at the better programs anyway....)

Well...yeah. 🙂

I know that doctors need to have the ability to do the hard coursework of med school (you don't want someone to take a spot away from someone else and then fail out because they can't handle Histo), but I also know a lot of docs who had great GPAs and great MCAT scores who are horrible docs.

When I worked in the ER, our chief resident told me that his grades and board scores should have kept him out of EM (EM being so competetive) but the PD for some reason gave him an interview and was really impressed. He turned out to be a fantastic doctor.

There was another resident who was horrible. Even the other doctors thought he was horrible. The chief resident and several attendings reviewed his charts to collect evidence that he was unsafe to practice. He graduated top of his class from med school and had the highest board scores in that residency class. I know that's n=1, but it seems that you need a good mix between book smarts and real world application smarts.

 

[deleted6669]

Well...yeah. 🙂

I know that doctors need to have the ability to do the hard coursework of med school (you don't want someone to take a spot away from someone else and then fail out because they can't handle Histo), but I also know a lot of docs who had great GPAs and great MCAT scores who are horrible docs.

When I worked in the ER, our chief resident told me that his grades and board scores should have kept him out of EM (EM being so competetive) but the PD for some reason gave him an interview and was really impressed. He turned out to be a fantastic doctor.

There was another resident who was horrible. Even the other doctors thought he was horrible. The chief resident and several attendings reviewed his charts to collect evidence that he was unsafe to practice. He graduated top of his class from med school and had the highest board scores in that residency class. I know that's n=1, but it seems that you need a good mix between book smarts and real world application smarts.

yup, it's true. I was supervising an md resident yesterday who I thought was an intern due to the nature of her questions and unfamiliarity with common procedures. turns out she's a senior resident and will graduate in 4 months! nice lady, just seems to have missed out on all the basic skills of her specialty somehow yet managed to advance through the residency.....

 

[yaah]

Merging two threads with same subject and original post.