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- Sep 17, 2003
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Hi All,
I'm interested in anesthesia for many reasons (enjoy physio/pharm, interested in postop/critical care, like teamwork/don't need ego stroking, have manual dexterity for procedures, etc.).
However, my reservations about pursuing anesthesia have to do with the fact that I don't know if I have the psychological attributes to be an excellent anesthesiologist. Specifically, I've always thought of myself as a pensive person rather than a fast thinker/multitasker/take action type. I've never had the opportunity to test myself in the latter domain, i.e., never been a paramedic, fireman, etc.
Here are my questions:
1.) For those of you who have done an anesthesia elective/rotation, does the student experience provide a realistic/adequate litmus test towards evaluating whether you could succeed in anesthesia?
2.) For those who chose anesthesia & are now residents or docs, do you feel as if one can improve their mental processing speed with training/experience or is this largely an innate talent?
3.) How do you handle the daily stress of being the go to guy/gal when things hit the fan?
I know I probably won't know till' I hit the wards (and maybe I'll pleasantly surprise myself?), but I just wanted to know if anyone else had self-doubts and what the outcome was ... thanks everyone!
I'm interested in anesthesia for many reasons (enjoy physio/pharm, interested in postop/critical care, like teamwork/don't need ego stroking, have manual dexterity for procedures, etc.).
However, my reservations about pursuing anesthesia have to do with the fact that I don't know if I have the psychological attributes to be an excellent anesthesiologist. Specifically, I've always thought of myself as a pensive person rather than a fast thinker/multitasker/take action type. I've never had the opportunity to test myself in the latter domain, i.e., never been a paramedic, fireman, etc.
Here are my questions:
1.) For those of you who have done an anesthesia elective/rotation, does the student experience provide a realistic/adequate litmus test towards evaluating whether you could succeed in anesthesia?
2.) For those who chose anesthesia & are now residents or docs, do you feel as if one can improve their mental processing speed with training/experience or is this largely an innate talent?
3.) How do you handle the daily stress of being the go to guy/gal when things hit the fan?
I know I probably won't know till' I hit the wards (and maybe I'll pleasantly surprise myself?), but I just wanted to know if anyone else had self-doubts and what the outcome was ... thanks everyone!