interview questions

[alansmith52]

I know we had a previous thread about this stuff but its on a diffrent page and I would like to collect data on this.

there are three guys in my unit that are planning on going to crna school. its cool because we spread info to each and breed confidence (by the way my spelling is a little rough because I spent two years in the phillipines and learned to speak tagalog) one of them had an interview this last week he came back to work today and we three had a little pow wow.

he said it was hernedous, he never imagined it would have been so hard. he said that he walked in sat down and two very nice people asked him quesitons for an hour. he said they where clinical type questions by nature and a lot of pharm. once they asked him. " tell us about atropine?" I wondered what I would of said. I thought well it would be nice if it was like Who Wants To Be a Millionair. Maybe I could say. ummmmmm... I would like to phone a friend. I am just kidding of course.

it turns out they wanted to know excactly what receptors it acted on. I don't know if telling them it was a positive chronotrope or that you used in symptomatic braycardia was enough or they just wanted to see him think through it. either way, as you can tell its gotten me all rouled up.

I would like to hear other interveiw experiences meaning specific questions and what not.

matt RN

p.s. he said he had a lot of anatomy, the easiet question was to trace the blood through the heart naming all structures ie. valves vessels. ect.

[alansmith52]

here is something else I found out tonight:

A CRNA that works here brought a pt back to the unit post-op.

my buddy and I seized the chance to talk to her. (we are always ambushing her) we asked about what schools are good or if she knew of any we should certainly avoid.

she told us that is very important to find out what skills you get becuae some schools are very weak in blocks. she said that there are some CRNA's that she works with that never learned how to do spinals or epidurals in school and to this day still don't do them but have to get a MDA to do it for them...

I don't want to end up like that. I am suprised that after working in the profession for X number of years that you wouldn't eventualy pick up the various skills. basicall it sounded like if you don't learn in school you never will. some one tell me this isn't true.

matt RN

[kmchugh]

Not true. My school is (maybe) a little weak on blocks, but I can put in spinals and epidurals, no problem. I never in school put in an ankle, brachial plexus, or interscalene block, but I learned the mechanics. Any of the MDA's I work with now would be happy to do them with me, to teach me the finer points.

Kevin McHugh

[alansmith52]

I knew you'd come through for me.

it seems as though you 'd have to not care or never have the desire, to go through a professon without mastering everything about it.

[nilepoc]

On the block topic, you just need to ask the program what thier strengths are. I specifically asked my school what the procedure counts were like in regards to regional anesthesia. They stated they were very good, and I coraborated this with a few of the students they let us talk to in the interview process. As a matterr of fact in the first semester we practice most of the major techniques on the cadavers in gross anatomy (August 8th cannot come soon enough).

As far as interviews go, I only went to one. After talking with a couple of people afterwards,Ii think that the school I will be attending tailors their interviews too the individual in some respects. I received exactly one clinical question, and it was not tough in the least. "Name the pressors you are familiar with and when you would use them" they seemed to like that I mentioned vassopressin. some people said they received more clinical questions. Wintermute has hypothesized that some interviews are harder based on experience, or lack there of. Other than that, it was centered around ethics, what kind of person I am, and without directly asking, seeing how I was going to support myself through school. The whole process was very congenial, and overall pleasant. I did have some explaining to do regarding some prior marks, but you can read about that in my other posts.

[kmchugh]

Originally posted by alansmith52

I knew you'd come through for me.

it seems as though you 'd have to not care or never have the desire, to go through a professon without mastering everything about it.

Careful. There is no way you can, or will be expected to master everything in anesthesia. Currently, there is group of anesthesia providers who swear by regional anesthesia. Some actually say their practice is 90% regional. All well and good, but I think this may be more of a passing fad. Besides, I can't tell you how many regional blocks are "supplemented" by ketamine or propofol. Patients, as a population, don't want to be awake while they are operated on. Generally, they don't want to hear the saws, drills, or conversation in the room. "A block would be fine, but I still don't want to know anything that is going on" is a comment I hear more frequently than you might imagine. When it comes to regional anesthesia, the number one reason not to do it is patient objection. Too many practitioners "talk the patient into it" which I believe we have no business doing. I think it borders on unethical. So, while knowlege and ability to perform regional anesthesia is important, don't necessarily be taken in by those who swear that all surgery can be done with a block.

Kevin McHugh