Not good with my hands

[Pril]

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I am not good with my hands. To make a long story short, in Anatomy lab I had problems putting on my gloves. Does this make it impossible to work as an Anesthisiologist or is it a matter of practice and repetition? Thanks for all the responds>

 

[Lonestar]

Trust me, if you have made it this far with your manual dexterity in test taking, then you will do fine. The key is repitition, repitition, and repitition. The sweet part is that once you have done enough (a month's worth) you feel like an expert in doing that procedure. I am currently in the MICU and now I can confidently put in arterial lines in many of my patients by myself alone. 24 days ago, I couldn't do anything.

 

[doc05]

you can't put on gloves?? were they too small?? or do you have a more serious problem?? are you able to write with a pencil??

 

[Wahoowa]

Last year I rotated with an ophthalmologist. I was amazed by his steady hands and asked him how he does it. His response was that he is normally a "shaky" person--he learned early to use his free hand to steady his working hand. You have gotten this far, I am sure that you are clever enough to confront your troubles. Manual dexterity is definitely something you can learn and adapt to. This obstacle can be overcome--you will be fine.

 

[sandman1]

I'm bad with my hands too - just ask my ex-girlfriend!!

Just kidding. You need steady hands for things like spinals, epidurals, artlines and central lines. I can tell you that in the morning I've walked into procedures with a lot of caffine on-board and I pretty much do what the optho guy told Wahoowa. Find your landmarks and steady your two hands. Better that than a "wet-tap" or hitting Big Red on an I.J.

If you see that you have something more troublesome and progressive, see an in-house neurologist. None of us like to go to other docs but hey, it's something you should do for YOURSELF. It could be something as benign as an essential tremor that can be treated with B-Blockers.

Do yourself right!! 👍

Last year I rotated with an ophthalmologist. I was amazed by his steady hands and asked him how he does it. His response was that he is normally a "shaky" person--he learned early to use his free hand to steady his working hand. You have gotten this far, I am sure that you are clever enough to confront your troubles. Manual dexterity is definitely something you can learn and adapt to. This obstacle can be overcome--you will be fine.

 

[Pril]

Thanks for all the info. I am interested in Anesthisiology but was worried about my clumsiness. But thats why there is residency to improve my skills I hope without killing anyone.

 

[Skip Intro]

Thanks for all the info. I am interested in Anesthisiology but was worried about my clumsiness. But thats why there is residency to improve my skills I hope without killing anyone.

I'm lucky that I've got pretty good manual dexterity and eye-hand coordination. But, I'd say that this is not critical. Sometimes in anesthesia, it requires brute force and experience. I was humbled this past week when I had a difficult intubation. I had the surgical attending, two surgical residents, my attending, a surgical student, the scrub nurse, and the circulating nurse standing around me. I was trying to intubate an obese patient who was a little deep and had a floppy epiglottis. Now, you realize that on this rotation I've done about 30 intubations successfully and I was probably getting a little cocky. So, when I pushed the tube into the stomach and saw the stomach going up and down like a trampoline and seeing that dreaded "0" on the capnogram, I figured I'd just pull out, ventilate and try again as the SpO2 "beep" started its decrescendoing sound. But, next thing I knew my attending was shoving me out of the way, cranking-up the sevoflurane, bagging the hell out of her, yelling at me to grab the sux and push it quickly, etc., etc. It really embarrased and humbled me.

Afterwards, I was explained that the patient was in such a light plane of anesthesia that there was a high risk of laryngospasm. That's why he shoved me out of the way and knocked her down hard. Also, he got the tube in very easily. After that, it was smooth sailing. And, I learned a lesson I will never forget.

What's my point of telling you this? It's good to know your limitations then practice and work on them. Sometimes, you get cocky and you forget what you can and cannot do. It's better to start and say, "I'm not sure about doing this" (as I should have in this case with what, as my attending later agreed, was a difficult airway) than to march forward not questioning your ability to successfully do the skill.

So, it's refreshing that you admit your limitations. And, don't be worried about your current lack of dexterity. Like others have said, it takes practice. Repitition, just like everything else, is key.

Good luck. Do a rotation (or two or three) in anesthesia to see if you like it. This will answer your question more than anyone will be able to do here.

-Skip

 

[Zeffer]

I'm lucky that I've got pretty good manual dexterity and eye-hand coordination. But, I'd say that this is not critical. Sometimes in anesthesia, it requires brute force and experience. I was humbled this past week when I had a difficult intubation. I had the surgical attending, two surgical residents, my attending, a surgical student, the scrub nurse, and the circulating nurse standing around me. I was trying to intubate an obese patient who was a little deep and had a floppy epiglottis. Now, you realize that on this rotation I've done about 30 intubations successfully and I was probably getting a little cocky. So, when I pushed the tube into the stomach and saw the stomach going up and down like a trampoline and seeing that dreaded "0" on the capnogram, I figured I'd just pull out, ventilate and try again as the SpO2 "beep" started its decrescendoing sound. But, next thing I new my attending was shoving me out of the way, cranking-up the sevoflurane, bagging the hell out of her, yelling at me to grab the sux and push it quickly, etc., etc. It really embarrased and humbled me.

Afterwards, I was explained that the patient was in such a light plane of anesthesia that there was a high risk of laryngospasm. That's why he shoved me out of the way and knocked her down hard. Also, he got the tube in very easily. After that, it was smooth sailing. And, I learned a lesson I will never forget.

What's my point of telling you this? It's good to know your limitations then practice and work on them. Sometimes, you get cocky and you forget what you can and cannot do. It's better to start and say, "I'm not sure about doing this" (as I should have in this case with what, as my attending later agreed, was a difficult airway) than to march forward not questioning your ability to successfully do the skill.

So, it's refreshing that you admit your limitations. And, don't be worried about your current lack of dexterity. Like others have said, it takes practice. Repitition, just like everything else, is key.

Good luck. Do a rotation (or two or three) in anesthesia to see if you like it. This will answer your question more than anyone will be able to do here.

-Skip

Great Post Skip. I enjoy hearing interesting experiences.

 

[Wahoowa]

I'm lucky that I've got pretty good manual dexterity and eye-hand coordination. But, I'd say that this is not critical. Sometimes in anesthesia, it requires brute force and experience. I was humbled this past week when I had a difficult intubation. I had the surgical attending, two surgical residents, my attending, a surgical student, the scrub nurse, and the circulating nurse standing around me. I was trying to intubate an obese patient who was a little deep and had a floppy epiglottis. Now, you realize that on this rotation I've done about 30 intubations successfully and I was probably getting a little cocky. So, when I pushed the tube into the stomach and saw the stomach going up and down like a trampoline and seeing that dreaded "0" on the capnogram, I figured I'd just pull out, ventilate and try again as the SpO2 "beep" started its decrescendoing sound. But, next thing I new my attending was shoving me out of the way, cranking-up the sevoflurane, bagging the hell out of her, yelling at me to grab the sux and push it quickly, etc., etc. It really embarrased and humbled me.

Thanks Skip! It is good to hear that I am not alone. I guess this is why we are in "training".

Afterwards, I was explained that the patient was in such a light plane of anesthesia that there was a high risk of laryngospasm. That's why he shoved me out of the way and knocked her down hard. Also, he got the tube in very easily. After that, it was smooth sailing. And, I learned a lesson I will never forget.

What's my point of telling you this? It's good to know your limitations then practice and work on them. Sometimes, you get cocky and you forget what you can and cannot do. It's better to start and say, "I'm not sure about doing this" (as I should have in this case with what, as my attending later agreed, was a difficult airway) than to march forward not questioning your ability to successfully do the skill.

So, it's refreshing that you admit your limitations. And, don't be worried about your current lack of dexterity. Like others have said, it takes practice. Repitition, just like everything else, is key.

Good luck. Do a rotation (or two or three) in anesthesia to see if you like it. This will answer your question more than anyone will be able to do here.

-Skip

Thanks Skip! It is good to know that I am not alone. I guess this is why we are "training".