Friday, August 6, 2010

Anesthesiology Residents Going Solo

The month of July has passed. This is the month that no resident physicians in the anesthesia program are allowed vacation time, because it is when all of the new residents are trained with close monitoring of an attending physician.

(Don't ever go in for surgery in July or August, wait until at least September...? Give them a little time to practice.)

The month of July was rocky. My husband said the learning curve was astronomical (and still is).

One day I asked him, "Did you learn or see anything neat today?" The look he gave me was comical. "Ya," he said, "Every day we see a ton of amazing stuff." He seemed surprised but also frustrated that he couldn't really explain to me how neat every minute of every day is, and how much he is learning. He seemed to mean it too, although he didn't smile when he said this. I think the stress was still too thick for any possible visible signs of enjoyment.

In general, the month of July went well. He has at least stopped talking about law school or business school, and is considering the possibility of actually completing the entire three years of anesthesia training.

The few days that he has now been working alone as an anesthesiology resident (with an attending "nearby") have also gone well. The only days I worry about him now are when he replies to my inquiry about how his day went with a "Hmph," along with a shoulder shrug. But there have only been one or two of those. Most days, he seems to enjoy what he is doing, but this could actually, and probably is, be derived solely from his hour-long bike commute home each evening.

Phew! Maybe we will get through these next 3 years after all!

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