How to make the most of your anaesthetics placement
BMJ 2020; 369 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m940 (Published 29 April 2020) Cite this as: BMJ 2020;369:m940
- Matthew J Bishop, higher specialty training year 3 in anaesthetics
- Department of Anaesthesia, University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire, UK
- matthew.bishop1{at}nhs.net
The anaesthetics department will probably be the largest medical specialty in any hospital.1 Anaesthetists are responsible for the intraoperative care of patients in all surgical specialties—both elective and emergency operations. They also work with those in the intensive care unit, and in pain management, and they provide airway support to patients who experience emergencies such as cardiac arrest. Placements in anaesthetics, or experience of it during a surgical placement, will expose you to skills and knowledge that are relevant to many other areas of medicine. This article explains what you can expect, and how to make the most of your time, in anaesthetics.
Before your placement
Although it can be difficult to know what to prepare because requirements for different operating lists vary, most anaesthetists will not expect you to have much knowledge of anaesthetics before the placement. Consider revising basic airway anatomy, airway management options, intravenous fluid therapy, and analgesic pharmacology, as well as cardiac and respiratory physiology. These are all popular topics of discussion for beginners. You will probably have the opportunity to insert cannulas, so some experience of intravenous cannulation would be helpful. Reviewing a clinical skills video or practising in the skills laboratory might be useful.
Plan to get to your placement early; most anaesthetists start preoperative assessments of the patients on their list before 8 am. Some knowledge of this assessment would impress, but it is not essential. You will need to change into scrubs when in …
Log in
Log in using your username and password
Log in through your institution
Subscribe from £184 *
Subscribe and get access to all BMJ articles, and much more.
* For online subscription
Access this article for 1 day for:
£50 / $60/ €56 (excludes VAT)
You can download a PDF version for your personal record.