A is for Airway....and Anaesthetics

I had had several apprehensions before starting Anaesthetics....and I had experienced EVEN more doubts prior to this when I had heard more than one individual proclaim their love for the specialty.

Perhaps it is true when they say pleasant surprises happen when you are least expecting it. Because my first week on the placement so far has been anything but unpleasant. Fair enough, I did come across a fair bit of grilling on my very first day and very first theatre session, but the amount that I took away from it surprised even myself.

And, taking into account the fact that I was still pretty much riding on my wave of vacation fever when I started last week, I had to say that the patience and effort that these wonderful beings poured into helping me grasp the core points around the topic was definitely much appreciated. At the end of last Friday, I had reverted from a Cardio Fangirl to an Anaesthetist Wannabe. Pretty much sold. No further persuasions required.

Okay, I kid. The door is pretty much still open to me, and at the moment, the anchoring heuristic in me still sides the matters of the heart (pun intended) strongly. But it was moments like last Thursday where Lynn and I had had a very productive afternoon session brushing up on our Gen Med knowledge and our systematic approach (or maybe lack of) in handling emergent situations, that struck a significant chord in me and made me realise.....that moments like these...moment like these are what drove me to endure the hours of trawling the hospital, of being ignored or chastised as liked, of tearing hair out prior to exams.....and of potential identity crisis when work commences....and that at the end of the day, there is nothing else but this that I could imagine myself possibly doing.

I will miss Anaesthetics when it is all over. And maybe in another 3 weeks or so, I will have reverted back to the broken, bitter, ill-tempered med student scurrying around A&E when you next check this space.

But for the moment, in customary ABCDE approach, let me just say.

A is for:

- Airway

- Anaesthetics

and - Alyssa being strangely happy for the first time in ages.