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 ).

Most 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.