Friday, July 13, 2012

Friday the 13th

This month I'm on obstetric anesthesia, a very different world than both the intensive care unit and the general operating rooms. In theory, it shouldn't be too bad. There are only a handful of anesthetic interventions we need to learn: the spinal, the epidural, the combined spinal and epidural, and the general anesthetic for the parturient. There are only a handful of medical states to learn: pregnancy, pre-eclampsia, induction of labor, twins, fetal bradycardia, post-partum hemorrhage. So it is easy to get into a routine of sorts and focus on perfecting these specific anesthetic skills.

There are usually 4 to 6 scheduled procedures each weekday, mostly elective C-sections and occasionally tubal ligations and cerclages. However, as today is Friday the 13th, there were no scheduled C-sections. Funny how superstition can be.

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