Would you consider this enough training to graduate as a competent general anesthesiologist?
Unfortunately, changing programs isn’t really an option for me, so I’m trying to make the most of what I have and I’m actively pursuing away rotations to fill gaps in my training.
My concern is that my residency is at a relatively small hospital. Most of our patients are ASA 1–2 and we don’t do a lot of high-acuity surgery. We’re not a trauma center and we don’t have major surgeries which is unfortunate
Case mix is mostly:
Lots of ortho
Lots of craniotomies (generally straightforward)
Bread-and-butter general surgery
Pediatrics
Urology
Plastics
Endoscopy, MRI, and IR
One thing I do appreciate is that our attendings give residents a lot of autonomy. By CA-2 we’re generally inducing and extubating patients independently (with supervision available, obviously), which has helped build confidence and decision-making skills.
Assuming everything goes as expected, these are roughly the numbers I’ll be graduating with:
— Well over 200 spinals/epidurals (not worried about neuraxial experience)
-Good OB load, mostly healthy
— 200 pediatric cases, mostly routine cases, plus 1 month at a dedicated pediatric hospital during CA-3
— 80–100 single-shot regional blocks
— 40 craniotomies, straightforward cases
— 30–60 cardiac cases during a 2–3 month rotation at a tertiary cardiac center
— Only about 5–10 double-lumen tubes because thoracic surgery volume is low
— Probably no major vascular cases (AAA, aortobifemoral bypass, etc.)
— No meaningful trauma exposure
— Lots of endoscopy, MRI, and IR anesthesia
— About 40–50 central lines by graduation
For those of you already in practice or nearing graduation:
Would you feel comfortable graduating from a program with this experience?
What are the biggest weaknesses you
see in this training?
If you were in my position with one year left, what would you prioritize during away rotations?
Are trauma and major vascular exposure things that can realistically be learned during fellowship/early attending years, or are they gaps that should ideally be addressed during residency?
Honestly i’m not interested in pursuing a fellowship….
I’d appreciate honest opinions. I’m not looking for reassurance i genuinely want to know where the deficiencies are and what I should focus on during my final year.
EDIT: guys i cant do trauma. We dont have traumas where i live
I can do one month of transplant but idk if that would be useful for me. It’s really competitive to apply for a rotation and the attendings there are not friendly they usually dont get you involved… so they’ll do all of the lines and most of the management
Would you consider this training bad?? Genuinely, am i cooked?