Do you get lonely in Anesthesia?

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Mr.Thrive

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I am a medical student looking into anesthesia. At an academic institution, I found that there is a lot of teamwork between the attending and residents.

However, in private practice, do you feel isolated in the OR and unable to leave? Or, is this a misconception?
 
I don’t feel isolated or trapped. Like caligas said there are plenty of people to talk to (and unlike in residency I do enjoy talking with the vast majority of surgeons in private practice). However it can get lonely at times just coming from residency and being used to seeing co-residents/friends everyday. Now in private practice I’m not interacting with other anesthesiologists as much on a daily basis because we are all busy doing our own cases. There’s always someone available if I need help or have a question (and everyone texts back and forth during the day), but the level of camaraderie is different. Not bad, but different. My friends who graduated with me this year and have joined other practices have said the same.
 
Agree with above. Now that I am in PP, the surgeons/nurses/techs/etc are all more friendly and interactive with each other. Many of us train at big academic centers where there are so many people and so much turnover that you bond more with your peer group (other residents). Now that I am working in a relatively smaller environment, I see the same people with greater regularity and that helps.

I do agree that there is less time to talk to other anesthesiologists, but that is the nature of the schedule and getting the cases done. In residency, everyone was getting morning/lunch/afternoon breaks and there are so many people that there was always a decent cohort of people who are not in the OR at any given time to shoot the breeze with. Now, the mentality is to work hard and keep things moving.

OP: if you are considering this as a career, you need to be okay with that "lone wolf" mentality because you will make a lot of important management decisions by yourself and spend a lot of time "trapped" in the OR. Honestly, this sentiment is cited by some of the people that I have talked to who switch out of anesthesiology or choose to do pain or critical care. OR anesthesiology is not the ideal setup for every personality type. Personally, it works well for me.
 
Thanks everyone for the answers.

Does anyone feel that overseeing CRNAs allows you to be more social? Also, what do attendings do while residents/CRNAs work on cases?
 
I think that emoji is literally what they do. Unless working with some new CA1 or scary CRNA then it's
 
Mr.Thrive said:
Thanks everyone for the answers.

Does anyone feel that overseeing CRNAs allows you to be more social? Also, what do attendings do while residents/CRNAs work on cases?
Click to expand...

Here it comes from the fake med student! Saw it coming!
 
Psai said:
Here it comes from the fake med student! Saw it coming!
Click to expand...

No. Just wandering if there is a place for me in anesthesia. I had several misconceptions before I did a rotation, but I only get to view it in an academic setting.

Patient interaction is a lot more meaningful and frequent than I originally believed. The patients are also generally more pleasant. Plus, it also feels like you can make a real difference in peoples lives. Really the only thing holding me up is the fear of isolation. Yeah you can talk to people in the OR but generally it feels as if people don't.
 
Think about how your attendings are. Is that what you want to do for rest of your life? Not the residents, not other sub-i, not your classmates.

I see you’ve considered IM/PMR/FM/peds. Think back, do these attendings strike you as the people that you enjoy hanging out with in and out of hospital? There are personalities for each speciality. Most Anesthesiologists are happy and social people, but don’t mind being alone from time to time.

If you need constant people or patient interactions, anesthesia may not be for you. After all, abc of anesthesia, for good and bad, is the stereotype. airway, book, chair.

If you need someone to talk about the management and/or need time to contemplate your every differentials, Anestheia may not be for you.

If you cannot imagine not to have continuity of care for your patients, anesthesia may not be for you.

If you are not okay with no one ever appreciate what you do daily, Anestheia may not be for you.
 
IMGASMD said:
Think about how your attendings are. Is that what you want to do for rest of your life? Not the residents, not other sub-i, not your classmates.

I see you’ve considered IM/PMR/FM/peds. Think back, do these attendings strike you as the people that you enjoy hanging out with in and out of hospital? There are personalities for each speciality. Most Anesthesiologists are happy and social people, but don’t mind being alone from time to time.

If you need constant people or patient interactions, anesthesia may not be for you. After all, abc of anesthesia, for good and bad, is the stereotype. airway, book, chair.

If you need someone to talk about the management and/or need time to contemplate your every differentials, Anestheia may not be for you.

If you cannot imagine not to have continuity of care for your patients, anesthesia may not be for you.

If you are not okay with no one ever appreciate what you do daily, Anestheia may not be for you.
Click to expand...

not really. i rarely see people read books in the OR. its 2018, you dont have to talk to people in person. text someone or reddit or something. there's a lot of social networks around
 
anbuitachi said:
not really. i rarely see people read books in the OR. its 2018, you dont have to talk to people in person. text someone or reddit or something. there's a lot of social networks around
Click to expand...

AFC airway, Facebook, chair just doesn’t have the same ring.
Somebody listed, A-H at some point.
Airway
Bagel
Coffee
D
E
Facebook
Go
Home

Or something like that

Edit: F: fantasy football
 
Mr.Thrive said:
No. Just wandering if there is a place for me in anesthesia. I had several misconceptions before I did a rotation, but I only get to view it in an academic setting.

Patient interaction is a lot more meaningful and frequent than I originally believed. The patients are also generally more pleasant. Plus, it also feels like you can make a real difference in peoples lives. Really the only thing holding me up is the fear of isolation. Yeah you can talk to people in the OR but generally it feels as if people don't.
Click to expand...
Meaningful patient interaction? Patients are more pleasant? What are you smoking? I can count on my fingers the number of patients per YEAR who mention the importance of my work in keeping them alive. Let's not mention the entitled uneducated who used to treat me, in 2 previous jobs, as if I should have been honored for being allowed to even talk to them. The kind that doesn't stop playing their stupid phone game while you are trying to preop them, or threatens you with a lawsuit as part of the "meaningful preop patient interaction". My current patient population rocks, but they are the exception.

Do you want to be treated more or less like a nurse used to, by various people (not just patients), your entire professional life? Go into anesthesia.

The only patients who seem genuinely happy to see me are my ICU patients, and those who I provide anesthesia for after having met them in preop clinic. And no, it's not me. (I may be ranting here, but I try to be polite, professional and kind in real life.) There is simply no meaningful patient-doctor relationship in most of anesthesia, except for malpractice purposes.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
FFP said:
Meaningful patient interaction? Patients are more pleasant? What are you smoking? I can count on my fingers the number of patients per YEAR who mention the importance of my work in keeping them alive. Let's not mention the entitled uneducated who used to treat me, in 2 previous jobs, as if I should have been honored for being allowed to even talk to them. The kind that doesn't stop playing their stupid phone game while you are trying to preop them, or threatens you with a lawsuit as part of the "meaningful preop patient interaction". My current patient population rocks, but they are the exception.

Do you want to be treated more or less like a nurse used to, by various people (not just patients), your entire professional life? Go into anesthesia.

The only patients who seem genuinely happy to see me are my ICU patients, and those who I provide anesthesia for after having met them in preop clinic. And no, it's not me. (I may be ranting here, but I try to be polite, professional and kind in real life.) There is simply no meaningful patient-doctor relationship in most of anesthesia, except for malpractice purposes.
Click to expand...
Different strokes for different folks. I love talking to OR staff and surgeons but hate talking to patients. In fact, the more talkative they are the quicker I reach for the propofol.....
 
IMGASMD said:
Ouch, is that how people see me?!
Click to expand...
Do you know many other specialties where nurses (and techs) feel entitled to call you by your first name, without asking your permission? Where other physicians try to tell you what to do, in the area of your own expertise? Where other physicians question your expert consultant knowledge, if they don't like your answer, and go complain to your boss? Where physicians push stretchers, carts, even anesthesia machines? Etc.
 
I have had the opposite experience. As a precursor I have a fairly strong IDGAF mentality, prefer to be called by my first name, and would prefer most people leave me alone. However, I am surprised on almost a daily basis how grateful the patients I provide for are when I talk to them and when I see them post-op. I have a similar experience on the surgical side but with a caveat. I find that more often than not my opinions, when I choose to actually voice them, are heard and actually make a change in what we are doing that day. The caveat being most surgeons still fall into the category that they are pleasant until they are not.

In regards to loneliness...you ever heard of a Nintendo Switch?
 
Only time I feel lonely is when I work a rare day at the surgicenter. Preop monkey for four rooms supervising CRNAs--Who think that they don't need me. Surgeons who nod their heads...Until somebody is dying.
 
FFP said:
Do you know many other specialties where nurses (and techs) feel entitled to call you by your first name, without asking your permission? Where other physicians try to tell you what to do, in the area of your own expertise? Where other physicians question your expert consultant knowledge, if they don't like your answer, and go complain to your boss? Where physicians push stretchers, carts, even anesthesia machines? Etc.
Click to expand...
I agree. It's horse****. Does the gi guy even draw up his own fent midaz despite the fact he has no idea what the hell to do if it goes wrong and has to call us again...

Why the hell is it accepted that the idiot surgeon gets 2 or 3 nurses and we get none...

That does burn when I think about it for too long... They're working on a paralysed oxygenated manequinm. If anything we should have 3 nurses and them have none. They don't do the hard part(ie taking an awake train wreck to another planet), and they have all fecking day to do it....
 
Newtwo said:
I agree. It's horse****. Does the gi guy even draw up his own fent midaz despite the fact he has no idea what the hell to do if it goes wrong and has to call us again...

Why the hell is it accepted that the idiot surgeon gets 2 or 3 nurses and we get none...

That does burn when I think about it for too long... They're working on a paralysed oxygenated manequinm. If anything we should have 3 nurses and them have none. They don't do the hard part(ie taking an awake train wreck to another planet), and they have all fecking day to do it....
Click to expand...

Let me post that in our OR area and see if they agree.....😉

I agree totally. I just don’t know how to fix it. And this is when we bring in the CRNA conversation, or the fact that we made this field too safe. As how I started this paragraph, I don’t know how to fix it.
 
Mr.Thrive said:
Also, what do attendings do while residents/CRNAs work on cases?
Click to expand...

EBB4916A-4B9C-4611-A3F5-5320FD47519D.gif
 
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