Struggling to Adjust to my new CA-1 status

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drfeelgood

In Gas We Trust
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I'm having a hard time adjusting to my role as a CA-1.

Anesthesia was so much easier as a med student b/c I didn't have to chart, set up the room, pre-op the patient, worry about time restraints...and on and on. I just went from room to room doing procedures and sitting in on great cases. And the attendings never left you alone in the room.

Even Internship was easy b/c I had so much down time on the Medicine Floor..... time to email, pay some bills, god forbid.. rea/d about a case you just admitted.

Now i'm only allowed 15 minutes in the morning AND 30 MINUTES FOR lunch. (and not a minute over)

But I'm slowly learning how to chart, monitor the patient, talk to the surgeon, draw up meds for the next case, set up equipment for the next case and answer pimp questions from the attending anesthesiologist (all at the same time!!!) ..... if i could only chew bubble gum in the OR!!!

Well... at least i survived the first month. we'll see what August has to offer.

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I know what you mean! It is quite a transition from internship to anesthesiology. It's definitely a different lifestyle. I think I'm getting use to it though. We're pretty much the same, with a 15 minute break and 30 minute lunch...When the day ends is quite variable....but for us its usually not too late.

However, It is all worth while when I'm doing pre-ops for the next day at 5:00 pm and I see the medicine or surgical teams just starting to do their rounds. Anesthesiology is pretty much get in early, work hard through the day, then go home (and turn off your pager when you hit the door).

Right now I'm having a hard time getting myself to keep up with the reading.

But summing it up, I'm having a great time, albeit I'm still overwhelmed at times. There's so much to learn and so much to be prepared for because anything that can go wrong most likely will some time in our careers. But I'd say it's "quite fun" and I'm still happy with my choice.

A couple of attendings have said, the adjustment first year is pretty difficult, but stick it out for at least 1 year, things will be different and you'll be glad that you did.

-TRG.
 
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