Friday, January 24, 2014

Pediatrics

Over the holidays, I was on my third month of pediatric anesthesia, a really fun experience. It was fascinating and a little mindboggling to ask the children what they wanted for Christmas. Elementary school kids are getting presents that I don't even get myself. They are becoming incredibly adept with electronic devices, and I wonder what it says about our society. When I got Legos, these children are getting remote-controlled helicopters. When I got a bike, these kids are getting iPads. I don't think it's wrong or bad, it's just really interesting. There is a part of me that thinks books, building blocks, and board games are the way to go, but electronic devices can stimulate creativity just as much.

In any case, the clinical volume around the holidays was interesting to me too. We had a lot of surgeries before Christmas, after which the volume dropped off significantly. Many of the patients were school-age teenagers with orthopedic injuries using the winter break as a time to recuperate. We also had a lot of outpatient procedures such as urologic or ENT procedures so the children did not have to stay in the hospital overnight.

The second time around pediatrics was much easier and much more fun. I really believe in the educational theory that after being exposed to something new, you go away for a while to let it simmer, assimilate, and integrate. Then when you come back to it, it feels natural, reflexive, and easy. I got to be a lot more independent with these cases and have a lot more fun as I did not have to think as hard about doses, sizes, and procedures. It made me confident that I can safely anesthetize healthy children for simple procedures.

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