Question for medical professionals

[Chloe Rothenburgh]

Hello,
I am new to the community and interested in becoming a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist. A question to all those who are going to pursue or already in medicine, what made you know that your specialty was for you? Why did you choose it? Thank you!

[Morgan Lee]

Welcome Chloe. I’m not CRNA track, I matched into a categorical residency, but I can tell you how I landed on it since the process is similar.

For me it was a third year rotation. I’d assumed I wanted surgery going in, mostly because I liked working with my hands and the OR felt decisive. Six weeks in I noticed I was more interested in the patient conversation before and after the case than the procedure itself. That was the actual data point, not some big revelation, just which parts of the day I looked forward to versus which I tolerated.

For anesthesia specifically, since that’s adjacent to what you’re asking, talk to a few CRNAs about their actual daily rhythm, not just the highlight cases. Ask about a bad call night not just a good one. The people who are happy long term in a specialty usually picked it because the unglamorous 80% of the job suited them, not the exciting 20%.

[Chloe Rothenburgh]

What a great way to think of it! Thank you Morgan 🙂

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