More CVP and A-Line pictures

Yes, some pics of my classmates and myself practicing our A-Lines and CVP technics

I did my first Aline and CVP line

Great week guys!!!!

I got my first A-line and first CVP in this week. Had a couple of days of practicing on the mannequins. I must say it wasn't easy, had to learn my landmarks and was very frustrated when i couldn't get blood return on the first attempt. But the hard work paid off, i successfully place my first Aline the first time around, and a successful CVP placed on the 2nd and 3rd go around.

Can i give myself a pat on the back? I worked it, and to top it all off i passed both checkouts too!!!!Sweet.

That's definitely one stressful element that's done with for this semester. Next thing now intubation.

Took some pictures during my practice sessions. I swear i'm the biggest geek ever but i love what i do and why not document the whole experience, so i want to incorporate real life pictures on the blog.

Feels like i picked up where i left off

Oh, i'm exhausted.
Had a pretty heavy day of studying, and its only the first week. Yay!!!!!
There is no time to ease back in slowly into things, I'm basically going full force studying already, feels like I'm picking up from where i left off last semester.

First week back, seems like everyone is back this semester. Didn't notice any absent faces, i'm glad. Wasn't exactly thrilled about seeing this professor, but hopefully "A" will make up for our recent disastrous semester. Everyone was miserable and hated that class. But believe me, its early and professor "A" said something that i believe that most of the class didn't pick up on because we were taking a brake and i can already see trouble brewing in the horizon.

Our schedules are pretty full this semester. We have to learn A-line, CVP and Swan ganz insertion. We'll learn how to intubate as well. Excited!!!!! We are also learning about regionals. You know, i never though about having a career only on doing regional anesthesia. Our instructor is a regional God, from what i hear. So lets call this one regionals. So, regionals was rumbling in class and was like if you hate the anesthesia machine, you can have a career doing only regional anesthesia in certain locations.I found that interesting, a life without the anesthesia machine. Not bad. Sounds interesting.

And, this semester i get to actually see the inside of an OR. This should be interesting. We're not in clinicals yet, but we get a pre-clinical experience to warn us up, interesting idea.

I think that at this point, i can officially say goodbye to my social life until graduation, like i had one anyways. This semester is packed and next semester we start clinicals. oh well, its the name of the game. what did i expect?


I'm out......

I'm back in action

Yup, my winter brake is officially over. Its a new semesters with old professors and new ones. I am in my 3 semester of CRNA school already. I swear time flies when your on vacation, and the semester just seem to drag. This is the final hump until i start clinicals. Excited!!!!!And that means one step closer to accomplishing my dreams.

Sorry guys, i know i was MIA. I went away, when i came back and gave the blog a new look for the new year. Then my laptop was off for repair. I swear, i was a little hard not having my line of communication. I kinda grew fond of my blackberry.

So, made some major changes. First of, i quit my per diem position. Yeah, it was only a couple of times a month, but you know what I'll stay broke until graduation. I was forewarned by the seniors, this semester is the hardest. I am bracing myself. I'll use my down town to spend it with someone special with someone special :)
It was definitely sad to leave, i didnt really tell everyone i was leaving, just my trusted ICU buddy, the_Nigerian_God. TNG is cool, hopefully TNG gets into CRNA school too. Good luck, the interview is coming. Go knock them dead!!!

Anesthesia and coexisting diseases , and regionals are the major classes this semester and the regional professor is not joke from what I've heard. So, i used this weekend to party, mingle, had a few drinks and now I'm ready for this y'all. y'all know I'm going to try my best to give you all the details about studying, the material and all that.

Its school mode now.
Wish me luck y'all

I'm back: preparing for the new semester

Hey Y'all,

yes I've been MIA of course. I was on a much needed vacation with my people. Since my return, its been nothing but resting and watching TV.

Started preparing for the coming semester. Doing some reading now before the semester starts just to get warmed up and reading ahead for the first couple of weeks. I read just to get an idea of what's coming up, i don't too much into details.

But, we did have assignments to look over during the break, the reading wasn't too bad. Its mostly about A-line, CVP insertions and stuff. I'm not a fan of reading things like that because I'm a visual learner. So, i basically read to get an idea of line insertion and complications. But nowadays, YOUTUBE is not meant only for watching music videos. There are cool videos showing A line, CVP and Cordis insertions; pretty cool. Check them out.

The class load this semester is heavy. Regionals is not a joke, a per the seniors, and anesthesia and coexisting diseases requires a lot of reading. But i am looking forward to inserting lines on the dummies, i cant wait.

I'm not looking forward to the first day of classes because I'm afraid a familiar face might be missing. We'll see. I hope everyone is back.

Front Loaded versus Integrated Programs

When deciding which programs to apply to i had to take into account what type of program i felt was the best match for me, front loaded Vs inter-grated program.

How did i decide which one was best for me?

Basically with the front loaded program, you have all of your didactics first then you go into clinicals. I basically taught that if i had a solid year of foundations first then i would be well prepared when clinicals rolled around. Basically, i didn't want to look bad in front of the preceptors. I wanted to a least have a good foundation before going into the OR. I wanted to avoid that "deer in heads lights" look. I wanted to basically know what i was doing versus having some idea or no idea of what was going on.

With the inter-grated programs, you go into clinicals soon after you enter into the program. Some people love it because they feel that this is the best way to learn. They go into clinicals all day, then come home to read about what they have done, and read assignments from classes. I image that people in that program probably end up having way more time in the OR and it becomes second nature to them by the time they graduate. That's cool too.

Did i make the right choice?

yes, i made the right one for me by choosing a front loaded program. And my friend made the right choice also for himself by going into an inter-grated program. I feel less stressed (if that's even possible in CRNA school). For now, i just have to concentrate on learning, and when clinicals roll around i will basically be reviewing what i learned and connecting the dots. Others will disagree and that is completely understandable and please share your stories with me. I am always open to hearing about your experiences, please share.

I recently found out they have a hand full of programs that are hybrids of inter-grated and front-loaded. So if you cant decided, go hybrid!!!!the first semester your in didactics and then second semester your mostly in class and you do 8 hours in clinicals, then the 3rd semester you do more 12-16 hours in the OR and so on....

I am enjoying my break right now, and I'm going on vacation in a few days. I'm excited, and when i get back i have some reading to do although we start back at the end of the month, but its the name of the game.

Merry Christmas to all

CRNA week is coming up next month. Counting down the days!!!!!