Why Anesthesia
So, the first question every premed or medical student answers
a million times, what areas of medicine are you interested in? I want to be a neurosurgeon, I want to be an E.N.T doctor, I want Orthopaedics, I want OBGYN. Yea right! there are USMLE step 1&2 exams, Ross Minis, Shelf exams, NMBE, the Match
algorithm, residency Interviews and inter-personality traits awaiting you that predetermine
where everyone ends up in medicine. There is not one area of medicine that I
particularly dislike. I love them all, but I would love a specialty where I can combine my
interest for gadgets and technology with my love for people. My passion is in Anesthesiology.
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| ."I want to combine my love for gadgets and technology with my love for people" - Dr Chisom-to-be |
After my undergrad program at UC Davis, I became an EMT - The euphoria and burst of excitement from
riding in a high speed ambulance. Yes, I was one of those high school kids that
would see an ambulance or cop car and start chasing after them in my car to see
its final destination, subsequently gauging my speed to avoid the cop from
sighting me and writing me a citation ticket. On thanksgiving night of 2010 -
one of my ride-along internship as an EMT student, we had a strange call to
response to a man who got into an argument with his girlfriend and then shot
himself with a handgun. Bro,why would you shoot themselves with a gun? I asked. He wanted to end his misery... I guess people just express themselves in different ways - His misery just began. We were out in a
remote county called Amador county which is a rural community about 45 mins
away from the big city, Sacramento. We called the nearby emergency room to
request if they could receive our patient. The surgeon said No, they couldn’t
receive him because there was no anesthesiologist on duty. Really? No
anesthesiologist? I was pissed there was no Anesthesiologist, but I was excited about what we were about to do next. Air-lift him by
flight evac to UC Davis, the only trauma 1 center in northern California.BUT Again,
there were no emergency helicopters available. What a choice day to shoot oneself! My supervisor decided we would drive him code red for 45 mins to UC Davis . I
asked with a bit of interest, are we going with lights and sirens. Yessss! How exciting! I had to compose myself, I was at the
back of the ambulance while my two supervisors were in the drivers compartment.
Prior to this day, I had planned to video -record my first call. But, this
wasn’t an ordinary call. I could barely hold myself talk-less of holding a
camera. This was the moment of truth. I think Anesthesiology was calling
me. I thought to myself, never should anyone be denied medical attention for
the lack of an Anesthesiologist.
Anesthesiologists are awesome doctors. They are regarded as
the surgeon’s surgeon, or as my mentor Dr Padilla calls them. “The kings of
the O.R.” They are specialists in opening the most difficult airways, and helping
people stay alive during surgery. They are the first figure a patient sees
before an operation and yes! They are doctors and great counselors – reassuring the anxious
patients that their lives are in safe hands. I actually hope to impact the
lives of patients in any specialty I find myself, but as of the date of this blog,
I want to become an Anesthesiologist. If that changes in the future, I will let
you know! Quality!
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