Yeah - I do. Working in an OR can be tremendously boring if you don't know the people there. But - those boring times are made interesting by those I work with & are punctuated by intense moments of activity.
I'm responsible for all the anesthesia carts - making sure they're all ready to go by 5AM. In our facility, some carts are different from others, so its not just line 'em up & do 'em. I also reconcile the narcotics used - I know you're very young, so that means I make sure what has been used has been documented in the anesthesia record. I also make the cardioplegia fluids (these are IV fluids used during a heart surgery) for the following day or replace any that need replacing that day.
Finally, I respond to any unusual drug requests that are not on the anesthesia carts.....so I go in and out of the ORs. I do not do surgeries!!!!
Actually, after reading some of your questions, I've been thinking about this a bit. It appears to me as though you'd like to do something which involves acute medicine - a hospital setting perhaps, but for some reason....you also like or are being pushed into thinking about pharmacy. Am I at all close? It also seems to me that you're trying to find a "fit" for an occupation like ours into what you perceive is a practice setting you see yourself in....again - am I close?
This is all good & this is what dreams are made of. But...you can't hope to make a job out of something that is or is not there - particularly when you might not really know what specifically you'd like to do.
At this point, having not gone to college yet...you don't even know if you like chemistry enough to like pharmacy - and we are very, very chemistry intense (many years of chemistry!) - much more so than medicine. Also, if you give yourself enough time to go to college with an open mind - you'll find those areas of interest many of us didn't really find until we were there. Right now..you have an interest in working with very sick patients - in 4 years, you may have more of an interest in drug design of biologics, or bioengineering, or god-forbid - dentistry!
So.....having also been a mom of kids who also had to walk this path....this is what I'd suggest you do. First....work as hard as you can in school - not just to get good grades,, but to learn your material well. That's going to make college so much easier & much more fun. Then, find something in high school in which you can "expand" yourself - school politics, band, sports, leadership groups - all these will become important in not just your applications to college & later graduate schools, but also in finding our what kind of a person you are. Are you one to take a leadership role easily or are you one to help graciously after someone else sets the lead? Finally, during the summer or school breaks - volunteer at your local hospital. As a high school student, the most you might do is deliver flowers. But, if you stick with it, you'll have more involvement & be assigned to different units. This experience will also look very good on applications. Once you get to know some people, ask if you can chat up a pharmacist or a hospitalist or a respiratory tech.....there are lots of people who'll be happy to tell you what they do over a Coke. There are lots of jobs out there you'd never be able to imagine.
Good luck, have fun.......and don't close too many doors too soon!
