Duties of the Elective Student

The Elective student will be assigned to regular clinical duties in the Operating Rooms.

To maintain a more consistent and engaging clinical experience, we will assign you to one or two preceptors that you will work with for as many days as possible during your rotation. This of course will be subject to operational requirements. The student should consult the O.R. schedule at the end of the day to view the following day’s assignment.

Whenever possible, the student should assess those patients on their next day’s operating room schedule. This is an assessment visit that should be reviewed with the staff anesthetist. However, the student should not discuss specifics of anesthetic techniques or procedures (e.g., regional vs general, lines, etc) with the patient until the patient has been reviewed by the consultant.

It is worthwhile for each student to define what he or she hopes to get out of the rotation. The goals could be different for each student. Many want a broad overview of anesthesia. Most want hands on experience with procedures, most commonly intubation. There certainly is scope for practice with other procedures, such as the insertion on IV’s, or even performing spinal anesthesia, or, rarely, placement of arterial lines.

Those students interested in pursuing a career in anesthesiology, or GP anesthesia, should set their goal to (theoretically) be able to give a simple anesthetic for a minor surgical procedure, where no surgical or anesthesia complications ensue.

Evening Call

Call is strictly optional and we offer nightly call through our “call buddy” system. Students are assigned to the senior resident on call and will work from end of day until 11:00p.m. at the latest, in order to allow for an appropriate rest period.

If you are interested in doing a buddy call with one of our residents, speak with Charlotte Sikatori to make arrangements.

Additional Information

You are welcome to attend resident teaching seminars (September to June). If you would like to do so, please ask check with Charlotte Sikatori as to the topic/location/date/time of the lectures taking place while you are with us. You may also wish to attend Anesthesia Rounds, held most Wednesday mornings (location may vary, please check if you would like to attend).

You are welcome to use the Anesthesia Library at each site, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday to Friday. It is locked at all other times. There are several computers in the library which you are permitted to use. Please consult your site contact for location information.

Back to Electives Year 4 mainpage