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Today’s inane image of the day:

It is no secret that ultrasound is a powerful tool for the anesthesiologist and intensivist. During residency, we achieve competence in using ultrasound for vascular access, regional anesthesia, and basic cardiac examination [both transesophageal and transthoracic]. When I was a resident, there were times when it was really challenging to get an ultrasound, which translated into feeling like my own skill was mediocre. Fellowship in critical care anesthesiology certainly helped me build upon my skill and clinical application of ultrasound has continued to advance my knowledge.

During my critical care fellowship, I opted to take the CCEeXAM^® Examination of Special Competence in Critical Care Echocardiography. Mostly because someone else was paying for the certification and I thought that it could be a useful certification to possess. At the time, the exam had only been administered a few times; there were limited resources to study from and very sparse information on the internet on how to structure my studying or where to focus my attention.

Luckily, if you’re looking to make this ~$1,000+ [probably more like ~$2000-$3000 after you include the study resources below] investment in your clinical practice, I have some advice from my own experience and a recent test-taker’s experience to help guide your study plan.

Today’s inane image of the day:

Last week, I reflected on 2023. As sort-of-promised, I decided to set some 2024 intentions. I think that every single day is a new opportunity to set and achieve goals; I don’t think we need a designated time of the year to do these things. I have short-term, intermediate-term, and long-term goals that I set and review on a semi-regular basis. But the idea of intentions feels like the right approach for 2024; they are touchy-feely types of ideas that I’d like to work toward in the new year. There is no checkbox for these items… they are lofty ideals that I hope I can remind myself to embody throughout the year. Maybe my 2024 reflections post will be assessing how these intentions came into play [or didn’t!]. Who knows. Maybe there will be silence on the blog for almost a year again [let’s hope not].

Today’s inane image of the day:

The COVID19 pandemic quickly pushed us into living in an era of Zoom, FaceTime, Teams, GoToMeeting, Skype… etc, etc video conferences. Suddenly, we are all masters at learning where the “mute” button is and how to find and use the “hand raise” function. Even little kids are learning that the “mute” button is an important way to maintain civility and order in the virtual classroom. It’s a weird time we live in.

Today’s inane image of the day:

What is the value in a sub-I/away rotation in anesthesiology?

This is a question I’m frequently asked: What is the point of an away rotation? Every year, medical students match into anesthesiology residency programs without ever having done an away rotation. Many have read on SDN forums that doing away rotations could actually be detrimental to a student’s candidacy. Away rotations are expensive. Scheduling is a headache. Based on this information, it would appear that away rotations are not worth the hassle.

I beg to differ. Every individual will have to decide for her- or himself whether the investment in an away rotation is worth it. There will be some individuals where an away rotation would be detrimental to their candidacy. Either way, if you’re interested in learning more about the nitty-gritty considerations surrounding these rotations and some of my personal tips for excelling during either an anesthesiology sub-internship/audition/elective rotation at your home program or as a visiting medical student, keep reading.

In life, career advancement is typically tied to being able to compile a resume, personal statement or letter of intent, and an interview. For many medical trainees, residency interviews are the first real “job” interview. While medical school also employs an interview process, it is a very different flavor of interview. The tips offered below can be readily applied to almost any kind of interview… but they’re most applicable to residency.

Hello, friends! It has been a while since I’ve posted here. While I could make all kinds of excuses about graduating residency, starting critical care fellowship immediately after, and managing a couple of leadership positions in national organizations… you don’t want to hear about that. What likely brought you to this page was the title – and the fact that you are a medical student aspiring to be successful in the residency match.

Today’s inane image of the day:

The last four months have been extraordinarily draining. I think the combination of being in the ICU in January [which is a bittersweet experience for me; on one hand, I love taking care of critically ill patients but on the other hand, the hours were long and the daylight hours were short], using all of my off days for either ACGME commitments, fellowship interviews, or AMWA103 planning made it difficult to stay balanced.

Cue the burnout.

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