ivpush

I find it interesting....... The practice of nurse anesthesia is to relieve pain. What is the difference between pain relief for an acute process (surgery) and a chronic process (herniated disk)? In both scenarios, we are relieving pain-in other words, we are doing our jobs.

As noted prior, Dr. Reinke will be the source of many ulcers. I had the "pleasure" of learning from Dr. Reinke 8 years ago (my how time flies) and I still have the ulcers to show for it-LOL. All I can say is study for the first test until you are sure you have it mastered, then study some more. That first six weeks of "easy material"(can you believe you can study a cell for 6 weeks? How hard can the test be-it's just a cell) will make you think we are all nuts that we say how hard it is. Study your notes-forget about Guyton-if you have questions, ask Dr. Reinke. He's the one testing you and is very approachable for questions. He is there to help you, but he WILL make you know physiology as well as med students. There are times when you will hate him, but when you are taking boards and getting pimped by MDs at your new job, you will thank him. If you take Valley Review-I guarantee you will not hear any new information. Study for that first exam like you have never studied before. When you get your test score, you can judge how you need to study for the others. I am sure no one will sit there and say they knew the material too well. It is important to do well on that first exam-if you do not, its not the end of the world, but it adds pressure because you must do well on the rest of his tests. By the way, the renal exam is a *****. It is not that all the material he teaches you is that difficult, it's how he tests you. DO NOT memorize your notes only. If you do this, he will bury you. You can memorize your notes, but you had better be able to dig between the lines and apply the principles he teaches you. You are not in nursing school anymore-simple regurgitation of the material will have you shuttling bedpans in the ICU again. This is the speech I received from a prior Dr Reinke student when I arrived at TWU. It scared me to death, but it helped(and it was not an exaggeration). Dr. Reinke will make you know physiology so well, you can have a professional conversation with a MD and very possibly get in the last word. Every headache Reinke gives you is worth it in the end. BUT DO NOT FALL BEHIND!!!!!! Would I do it again? After being in practice for 5 years, yes...I probably would. But it has taken me this long to say that. You will leave campus burned out from studying, but your brain will be overflowing with useful information to aid you in your travels for many years to come. Howard

Even though the CRNA was "chilling", I am sure he was constantly monitoring the patient and always thinking about what to do. There are some cases that are less "task-saturated" than others, but many OR nurses see us sitting there doing nothing and making check marks on the paper once in a while. Even though that's what it looks like, it is more imvolved than what meets the eye.

There are many things to consider about a tour in the military. For me, everything the recruiter told me came true, but that is not always the case. From I read in your post, you are already in anesthesia school. That is the biggest hurdle in the military. The practice is very autonomous in the military. Where I am stationed, we do not have any anesthesiologists(good and bad). You have the opportunity to become proficient in all types of regional anesthesia. The down side is the pay. Depending where you would get stationed, even though you get paid "half-time", you only work half-time. They are talking about increasing the bonus from 15,000 to 30,000/yr-but I am not sure when and if that will happen. Right now, when you are paying back time, you get less than half of the 15,000 (I get 6,000/yr) so that bites! But will the military pay back your anesthesia loans?-that is something to consider. Another downside to the military (esp if you have a family) are deployments. Recently, CRNAs are getting 6 month "vacations in remote locations." they are a drag, but your pay is tax-free and some student loans are paid back for that time. I do not mean to scare you away, but these are some things to consider. Do not get me wrong. The AF has been very good to me and I am a better CRNA than if I was not in the AF. It also feels good to serve ones country, especially in times like this. If you have any other questions, I would be glad to visit with you on an individual basis.