First Real day of school

Ok, so today is the first real day of school or the day where we went into the hospital and got to see cases. The first case I saw was of an 80 year old woman with a colon that was being removed laproscopically. I got to watch this intubation. Next, I got to see a little girl intubated, which is a little different. She was there to evaluate a mass which turned out to be benign and was completely removed. She's recovering nicely. The third case I got to see was AMAZING! The head and neck surgeons (went through dental school, last two years of medical school, then through oral surgery residency and are now on their fellowship for head and neck cancers...they must really like school) were removing a mass located in a very dangerous position on her neck. The nurse anesthetist had drug to push her blood pressure up or down ready at the push of a button. Lots of excitement over this case, and the four 4th year medical students who were standing around couldn't see much of anything. Since I was rotating with anesthesia, I was able to get a look in to see what everyone was doing! Soo exciting!!

After this came my excitement!! Some of the Certified RN Anesthetists (CRNAs) asked if I had gotten to intubate yet, and I said no. They found me two cases. The first I tried to intubate but couldn't see completely and wasn't 100% confident of what I was doing, so I removed what I had done and let the CRNA do it. He later said that he thought that I had it the first time and know that I knew how to do it, he would expect me to get it the next time. Right after that, I found another case and asked if I could do the intubation and tat CRNA was amazing! Very encouraging and honest about the whole thing. First try and I DID IT! I was so proud. They checked my work, listened to the lungs and the stomach and everything was good! Couldn't be more proud of my work today.

I did try an IV on a guy after he was asleep and couldn't get it. The CRNA even had trouble and we decided that it wasn't us, it was the man's hairy hands! Everyone there was very friendly and some of them are excellent teachers. I went to lunch, came back and found that there was nothing to do. The CRNAs told me that I had stayed waaay longer than medical students usually do and said to go home. So I obeyed. (I'm such a good student like that).

I realize that I am naive and innocently hoping for the best out of this year. I know from what I've seen so far that there will be plenty of misunderstandings and lack of guidance to get us where we need to go. But overall, I am so very thankful to be starting out where I am. I start on an easy rotation with laid back people working along side 4th years who know the ropes. I am pumped about what new adventures lie ahead. I'm also hoping to gain inspritation from these posts in a couple of months when I'm exhausted and frustrated. God is so good.