FOCUS ON ANESTHESIOLOGY 2 Annual Holiday Party, December – 2007 Grand Prospect Hall, Brooklyn NY
FOCUS ON ANESTHESIOLOGY Constance H. Hill, M.D. Perioperative Care, Clerkship Director, Director of Student Education, Dept. of Anesthesiology Associate Dean for Minority Affairs Since the early 80’s our department has been fortunate to have a required clerkship in Anesthesia. Initially, our two week clerkship, Perioperative Care, was included in the Surgery Clerkship. We have been an independent rotation for the last 6 years. The students are able to take the clerkship in either their third or fourth year. The hospitals that are used as sites for the rotation are <strong>SUNY</strong> <strong>Downstate</strong> University Hospital, Kings County Hospital, Long Island College Hospital, Lutheran <strong>Medical</strong> <strong>Center</strong>, Maimonides Hospital and Staten Island University Hospital. All sites are re<strong>view</strong>ed positively on the student clerkship evaluation. For the 2006 –2007 academic year our attendings and residents received the highest rating for their quality of teaching which includes modeling of professional behavior, teaching knowledge, skills and attitudes compared to all of the other clinical clerkships. Interest in our specialty has remained high among our medical students over the past four years. This year 22 fourth year <strong>SUNY</strong> students Comments from three of our students: did an elective in general anesthesia or a subspecialty area or Pain Management. Nineteen of these students are interested in pursuing a career in Anesthesia. We also had several visiting students doing an elective rotation. This year Match Day is on Thursday March 20th. The success of our clerkship can be attributed to the excellent teaching by our attending faculty and residents as well as those attendings and residents in our affiliate hospital sites. Each site has a student liaison who works with the Director and Clinical Director to make sure all students have an excellent experience. Drs. Dennis Dimaculangan and Samrat Worah assist with our orientation. Drs. Jean Charchaflieh, Ira Kass, Ketan Shevde, Ivan Velickovic and Samrat Worah participate in the student lecture series and Dr. Cottrell meets with all clerkship groups. The Department should be proud of our clerkship. I would like to thank all attendings and residents for making our clerkship shine! Asher Emanuel (2008 College of Medicine) “My first exposure to anesthesiology was a two-week required clerkship—my first clerkship of the year. This gave me an opportunity to learn about a specialty I had very limited knowledge of prior to medical school. Being my first clerkship I was perhaps hyper-aware of my surroundings—the environment, the work, the people and the gestalt of the experience. The strong sense of “team” among the residents, fellows and attendings drew me in then and remains meaningful to me today. The feeling of collegiality went in contrast to my expectation of a strict and oppressive operating room hierarchy. This sense of partnership is unique to anesthesiology and it is especially precious; we often work in very tight quarters and in surgeries that go from stable to disastrous just by glancing away from the monitor. During my inter<strong>view</strong>s over these past couple of months I am often asked what initially drew me to this field, what was that first spark of interest. I always seem to come back to the framework of the team I was so fortunate to encounter on my first two weeks of third year. I am proud that <strong>Downstate</strong> requires an Anesthesiology clerkship as it has created in me a foundation of anesthesiology education and has instilled in me values that I will carry on to residency. I have a sincere admiration and respect for all those who contribute their time and effort to anesthesia education.” Stacy Taritatu --- (2008 College of Medicine) “When I began my 2 week clerkship in Anesthesia, I never thought that I would eventually select it as my specialty choice. As with most students, I was unaware of the role of an anesthesiologist. I quickly learned that the anesthesiologist not only cares for the surgical patient but also knows how to manage diseases that affect their patients; hence they are the “Internists in the Operating Room”. Once I decided on Anesthesia as a career, I did two weeks of OB Anesthesia at University Hospital and two weeks of general anesthesia at Lutheran <strong>Medical</strong> <strong>Center</strong>. The intimate size of the OB team and the busy service allowed me to easily function as a team member. It was during the final two weeks of my elective spent at Lutheran <strong>Medical</strong> <strong>Center</strong> that my decision to go into Anesthesia was solidified! I truly became an integral part of the Anesthesia Care Team”. Jacqueline Njapa --- (2008 College of Medicine) “As medical students at <strong>SUNY</strong> <strong>Downstate</strong>, we are fortunate to have this as a core rotation during our third year. This provides us with an introductory experience of the specialty, to appreciate and apply our knowledge from basic sciences to how patients’ cardiopulmonary physiology is affected by the anesthetics and other drugs used during the peri-operative period. We also learn how patho-physiological aspects of the patient affect the choices of their anesthetic management during and after surgery. As an active participant I got to appreciate the significant role of the anesthesiologist in making it possible for patients to undergo surgery and keeping them safe during this period and beyond. Overall it was a great and exciting learning experience. One that has helped me understand and better appreciate the role of the anesthesiologists both in the OR and beyond and enabled me to decide on a career choice.” 3
Change language