Dr Ronnie Marsh
ST 2, interviewed February 2010
“I don’t think you fully understand what the job is or what it will be like for you
unless you’re the one with the responsibilities at the end of the day dealing with
the patients.”
What made you choose anaesthesia as a specialty?
I did four months rotation as a house officer in anaesthesia during my first
foundation year, which was when I made the transition from learning about
medicine and its theories into actually becoming a doctor. At that time I didn’t
know I wanted to do anaesthesia because everything was so new, I was still
learning about being a physician. I did an acute core common stem program
which I think gives you a bigger picture of what it means to work in all areas of
the hospital. During this time I did Accident and Emergency (A&E), acute care,
medicine, anesthetics, and surgery, all of which I loved. By the time I made my
decision to do anaesthesia I had done work as a doctor as well as a surgeon and
I had a good idea about what each specialty entailed. If you do acute medicine
the medical registrars just get abused. Anything that comes in the door that A&E
doesn’t know what to do with get sent to the medics, everything from your drunk
that walks down the road, to a car crash victim that the surgeons don’t know what
to do with, to psych patients and all sorts of other stuff. I think I weighed the pros
and cons of each specialty and decided accordingly.
Was there any advice you received that helped your decision?
The first anesthetist I met actually told me not to do it, which actually made me
want to do it more. Anesthetics can be quite scary, I think I choose it because it
was probably the hardest thing I could do. You have to know a lot about physics
and the equipment as well as the basic mathematical concepts and be good with
your hands. I don’t think that comes particularly easy to me, so I think the
challenge really drew me in.
One of the most appealing aspects is that if you can do anaesthesia, then you
can maintain pretty much any disaster that comes your way. You are the one to
call when everything goes wrong. Dealing with potential problems and having a
plan when the problem comes is quite nice because you know you will have a
plan.
Has anaesthesia been what you expected?
I think my acute core training stem years really prepared me for what it meant to
be an anesthetist, so it has been quite an easy transition. Having worked as an
anesthetist already helps. Having that experience replaces any sort of advice I
have received.
Is there a worst part about anesthetics?
The worst part is the moments where everything goes wrong and it gets very
scary. You have got to know when to call for help and to have the right people
around you to avoid potentially dangerous situations. You are the only one who
can fix some problems and there is a lot of waiting for those problems to happen
and you have to be prepared for it. It can be quite scary. You also have to find
stuff to occupy yourself through the boredom. People say that anaesthesia is
80% boredom and 20% total disaster, but I guess that’s part of the fun. The
exams are quite tough and there is a lot of physics and I guess that is quite cool
to learn about physics, it is interesting.
The lifestyle is another plus side. The thing about doing anesthetics, unless
you’re doing intensive care, is you don’t have a lot of patients to constantly worry
about. Once your case is done, you’ve done your post-operative ward round,
and you are happy with the patient’s status then you can leave. There are
constantly new patients and new cases to deal with and I think that is quite
appealing.
Are there any downsides to being an anesthetist?
If you have a really long boring case and you sit there and do some reading is
the worst it’s going to get. One thing about anesthetics is that is gets quite scary
at times, but that’s the worst bit.
Do you have any advice for someone thinking about becoming an
anesthetist?
I think if you are considering it at all then trying to get a job in it even if it is just a
four-month rotation, it is worth it. I don’t think you fully understand what the job is
or what it will be like for you unless you’re the one with the responsibilities at the
end of the day dealing with the patients. My best advice is to do the job and get
involved so you can see what it is like.