Thursday, January 12, 2006

A regular day at work

Recently we've had our slew of medical dramas - giving a tantalizing hint of the life most of us doctors lead. It does bear a slight resemblance to real life though it's not half as interesting or as exciting as it's shown in real life. There are times when it can be dead boring - but we all love that since it gives us the time to relax. And honestly, very few of us actually resemble the spectacularly winsome leads shown in reel life ( hell if we looked so good, we'd be peddling our wares on television too ).

Hot television doctorMost medical dramas focus on the more conventional roles that medicine plays ( such as the surgeons and the physicians ) with very little insight into the other essential departments - more than a handful actually - that actually help a hospital function. It just came to me today that some of my friends don't actually know what I do as an anaesthestist resident at work.

Honestly. Even my ISO himself is a little confused occasionally.

So I've decided to give a quick summary, guys. It's simple enough. Like most other working plebeians, I reach work just before 8 in the morning. Once I change into my scrubs, I usually search for my appointed room in the operating theatre to have a quick look at my instruments - usually the ventilator machines and the various drugs that we use for anaesthesia. Once the patient comes through the airlock into the operating theatre ( we have a list of four or five patients on our daily roster ), I usually escort them into the room where I engage them in some light chit-chat to allay their fears. Occasionally if the patient is sufficiently personable, I might even add a charming wink or two :)

Due to something called work ethics, I try not to ask for their numbers however. However, I will make the exception for Chris Evans. Surely even Hippocrates himself would have forgiven me :)

Then after a quick check of the intravenous catheter to ascertain its function, I start my business of knocking people out by giving them the required drugs. Occasionally I do tell the patient to start a brief countdown as they fall blissfully into the twilight. And then we prep the patient for the surgeon while I monitor the patient's vital signs and prepare myself for any untoward incident. Untoward incidents during the operative procedure numbers in the hundreds and it'd be impossible to name them all.

Suffice to say as the surgeon hacks off whatever is deemed unsuitable, I make sure that the patient remains pain-free and safe during the procedure - and hopefully remains unaware throughout. At the same time, I juggle a few roles - engaging in teasing banter with the surgeon ( morbid, derogatory humour usually ), gossiping with the fellow staff nurses and my colleagues, endlessly messaging my friends, shuffling along to the latest hits streaming in from the radio and.. oh yeah, monitoring the patients :)

And that's only a regular day in the operating theatre. Let's not start with the mess in the Intensive Care Unit.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the well description of what you do for living. :)

So you could drug Chris Evans and rape him if you wanted to. That's so hot. You could make him half awake, no?

Anything to elaborate when you change into scrubs?

Anonymous said...

Untoward incidents during the operative procedure numbers in the hundreds

That's a scary thought!

savante said...

Lost, I wish there was a gangbang.

I love medical dramas too, chas :) Especially Scrubs actually since most of that kinda wicked humour does go through my head sometimes.

The thought of Chris Evans having sex just short circuited my head, shigeki.

There are incidents, wesshiong :)

Paul

Anonymous said...

Hey I thought you strip guys and do things :D before the operation, to make them comfy :))

on the serious side if that wht you have written is true God save the person on the table.

hrugaar said...

Yeah, now we need to hear about the mess in the ICU. And maybe some of the untoward incidents on the operating table.

Ghoulish, moi? ;o)

Jay said...

So what you're telling us is that every day, you have unconscious people in front of you - unconscious, defenceless people who can't stop you from reaching under their loose hospital robes and giving them a thorough examination?

Man, I so want to be you.

Musang said...

the anaesthestist that worked on me during the first operation was a nice chap. he tried to get half of my body, from waist down, to sleep but failed. whatcha call that?... he gave a shot on my back. and it didn't fucking work.

result: hurt like hell when they started doing their work on my leg. had to scream like one white banshee to make them realize that.

in the end, he gave me GA. sleep like a baby through the operation.

and on second operation when they want to put nail into my femur, the first method worked. and i'm concious until they finished.

is that(the first incident) what you call untoward incident?

scary...

Anonymous said...

i had the delightful pleasure of observing in the OR when i was interning at a rural hospital. they wer removing a rod from a patients leg when the patient WOKE up at the middle of the procedure. anesthetized but not sedated enuf i guess. i know it sounds callous of me, but i actually found the incident quite funny, like a bad practical joke! they put him under after a few minutes, he woke up later and figured it was all just a bad dream.

AJ said...

How bout Nip/Tuck? I just lurve that drama?

savante said...

Anon, I only wish I stripped guys and did things :) Damn, I haven't done that in... hell, it's only two weeks :P

ru, let's take it slow. I'll reveal ghoulish incidents every once in a while.

Erection during the processing, Tom. Not usually. Maybe with Chris Evans.

Jay, that's me :) But I don't usually give in to that temptation.

Musang, that was a ... an incident. Not untoward though. Untoward is people dropping dead.

designdoctor, you're a doctor too! Send mail!

I love Nip/Tuck, AJ! Such nasty intrigues.

Paul