Anesthesiology

So this was the first rotation of fourth year. I chose it because I wanted to have lots of practice with airway management, including getting lots of intubations. I got that and much, much more from this rotation. I did my rotation at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle.
I worked with the Anesthesiology group that contracts with Swedish, and that group includes about 80 anesthesiologists. Of those, I worked with approximately 10, but worked several full days with Dr. Richard Solazzi. He was a great teacher and let me do a lot. During the rotation I placed several central lines, lots of peripheral lines, got many intubations (including a nasal intubation), put in a double lumen ETT and dropped a lung for a thoracic surgery, put in a femoral nerve block, put in a couple of spinal blocks, and ran a bunch of cases pretty much on my own. I LOVED THIS ROTATION. If I were not set on EM, I'd consider anesthesiology. I had a blast. I loved all of the procedures and I loved the nature of the work. I think it could get kind of boring for some people, but I'd never be at a loss of things to do, even during "boring" cases. In fact, "bored" isn't part of my vocabulary...

Unfortunately, one cannot get an honors grade without doing a BIG research paper. Part of me really wanted to do it because I got top marks and comments for the clinical grade, but I have EM starting in two days and the boards right after that and I cannot afford to take the amount of time that would be necessary to do the honors paper. So I will settle for a High Pass, great comments on my Dean's Letter, and a letter of recommendation from Dr. Solazzi.

I cannot believe that 4th year has begun and I'm now about to start a series of 3 EM away rotations. As of this date I have exactly 11 months (and zero days) until graduation, and 8 months and 14 days until Match Day. :)