Now we all know that a monkey can intubate so why should I be better at it than folks who have been doing it for 20+ years? .
Speaking at least about your scenerio, Arch, I think this is an important educational point so I'll take the opportunity to make it:
Even anesthesiologists/AAs/CRNAs who yield THE FORCE need another set of eyes/hands occasionally.
JWK replied so eloquently! Thanks for that contribution, Sir.
It is easy, especially
early in your career to feel like a failure if you need help with something that you've "failed" at, whether its an airway, a regional block, vascular access, whatever.
Heres a pragmatic, chronologic approach to what your emotions should be, speaking about the technical aspect of our job. Some people will fall below this and if you find youself below, seek guidance from someone better than you, or consider psychiatry.
🙂lol:
🙂
CA1: Hitting some targets. Still learning. Attending intervention common.
CA2: Hitting alotta targets. Still learning. Some attending intervention needed.
CA3: Hitting most targets. Still learning. Attendings kinda give you
DA ROPES and intervene when you say
"Dude, can you give me a hand?"
Years 1-3 in private practice: You're good. There are alotta tricks/finetuning/wasted time that will be corrected as you do our trade over and over in a busy environment. Still learning. New private practice partners who are seasoned in
DA BIZ will show you
cool techniques that make you
bigger, faster, stronger. Still learning.
Years 4-5 in private practice: You've got most stuff figured out. Every once in a while, though, you'll do a procedure and something
very small will happen....minorly different hand position, a different needle,
but you'll notice a POSITIVE difference, make a mental note, and modify your technique. Still learning. Every once in a while you'll call a partner and say,
"Dude, can you give me a hand?" Still learning.
Years 6 thru retirement: You've got most stuff figured out. You've seen mosta the cool tricks, but not all. Every once in a while you'll call a partner and say
"Dude, can you give me a hand?" Still learning.
I've been in this biz 12 years now.
Thats a pretty long time, huh?
Most gravid fire ants, I can intubate with a Miller 2.
But not all of them.
I accepted a long time ago
it'll never be all of them.
And thats OK.
Like JWK so eloquently described, if you make your living doing this anesthesia gig, even if you yield
THE FORCE, even if you've been in this biz for over a decade,
every once in a while you're gonna haffta call a colleague and say
"DUDE, can ya take a look?"
......
THATS WHY, ARCH,
sometimes you are better than someone whos been doing this 20 years.
