A Day in the Life of a Stanford Anesthesia Resident II

Occasionally, I hear anesthesia characterized by "hours of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror" but I keep myself busy. During the case, I do serial surveillance sweeps, making sure all the equipment and IVs are working, the monitors are appropriate, and the patient's positioning and airway haven't changed. We pay close attention to the progress of the surgery, anticipating when dangerous, difficult, or specialized things may happen such as dissection near a large vessel or using cement for a joint replacement. We catch up and maintain the anesthetic record as well as prepare our next case, resupplying our airway equipment and drawing up new medications. Sometimes the attending will discuss salient learning points for the case.

As the surgeons finish up, I begin to lighten the anesthetic, give antiemetics and reversal, and get the patient breathing on their own. Once the surgeons finish, we're again under time pressure to have the patient extubated safely as soon as possible. After extubation and taking off unnecessary monitors and tubes, we move the patient to the gurney and take him to recovery. There, I give the nurse report and fill in the rest of the record. I go straight from recovery to the pre-op area for the next patient to consent them for anesthesia, answer questions, start my IV, and put a note in the computer.

The day proceeds pretty similarly. The pressure is higher when I do a lot of short cases that require fast turnover. Occasionally I have more breathing room with longer cases. If there's extra time during a case, I pre-op my patients for the following day, looking up their history, physical, labs, and prior anesthetic record in the computer.

At the end of all my scheduled cases, I give the scheduler a call. The scheduler is an attending who "runs the board," manages the OR flow, and fields requests for emergent or add-on cases. I'll help with any add-ons or emergencies, but hopefully I'm done with the day. I return my narcotics to the pharmacy, change my scrubs, and head home, usually between 5-7pm. That evening, I give my attending for the following day a call, reviewing the cases we have and my anesthetic plan. I make dinner, perhaps do a few chores, and then sleep pretty early.