Quick post: this is my life right now:
It is our first week of our practical anaesthesiology training, and we are spending it practicing on fake patients and being taught that everything we learned in theory is different in practice (well, what’s new). I seriously began to hyperventilate just administering anaesthesia with this simulated program. And I am hyperventilating again realising that soon, I’LL BE DOING THAT. I’m not sure how it works elsewhere, but South African GPs are qualified (and expected) to perform simple and uncomplicated anaesthesia.
As part of our assessment for this rotation, we’ll be putting patients to sleep during the next two weeks. Do you think I’m freaking out about that? Yes I am. As they say, anaesthesia is about being able to wake the patient up afterwards.
MAC Awake 
Well, no master has fallen from the sky. I bet you after this “exercise” is over you’ll be “anaesthesing” people like a pro 😉
Thank you! I like that saying!
I like that, ‘being able to wake the patient up afterwards’! Now I am hyperventilating, just thinking about it!
It’s scary, hey!
Never thought about it that way- it’s always seemed like one of the “easier” fields. Give drugs, hang out while watching monitors/reading, wake patient up. Like on Grey’s, right? Haha.
Ha ha! Christine’s comment made me laugh!
Haha, “like on Grey’s” 😛 yeah, I was actually thinking that I’ve never really seen an anaesthetist portrayed in a positive light on Grey’s. At least in our hospitals, it wouldn’t be the surgeon doing the resus for example, it would be the anaesthetist (because the surgeon has the surgical wound to worry about). I think if we see anaesthetists reading a book (lucky!) it means that their patient is stable, and that means they’re doing something right.
Hi… this field would really freak me out… it seems so easy to go to sleep when one is lying there about to go under the knife… and such a uphill struggle to wake afterwards… glad it’s you and not me doing this… and I hope you get everyone to wake…
Thank you, I hope so too. I know how sick anaesthetics makes one feel afterwards so I really just want it go smoothly for everyone.
Lots of respect for anaesthetists. Learning physiology is all well and good, but applying it day in day out like that is a different matter. Only dealing with unconscious patients does have its benefits though.. Good luck for the rest of your placement 🙂