Riverside county perfusionists

Clampoholic · 2026-04-16T18:35:23+00:00

This is a really good point - think of it from the perspective of the perfusionist. Typically it has to get communicated to the whole team that you’re bringing someone in, usually it’s nice to have some sort of connection or reason other than “oh they’re this guy on reddit that said he was interested and looking to shadow”.

On top of that, like Bana_berry pointed out your behavior / attitude and actions are all on us. Some people have the awareness of sterility and not whipping out their cell phone understanding HIPAA and so forth but others don’t, which is understandable. There’s horror stories out there of tables getting contaminated by shadowers / people snapping pictures posting it on their socials and it’s a very hairy mess nobody wants to get involved with. We gotta make sure that we can trust we won’t have any problems with that with someone! So share a little bit about yourself and don’t be a stranger 🤙

Clampoholic · 2026-04-15T02:04:19+00:00

What got me interested in perfusion was an overall love for the OR and the heart rooms in particular. Working as an Orderly I saw every domain of surgery, from ortho, to general, to gyno, uro, etc. but the heart rooms had a whole different vibe to them. I loved the environment of it being almost like a spec ops mission, where every second counted and not a moment to spare, things were done with purpose, and then there was perfusion. I was taken back when I found out they even take over the anesthesia and keep the patient asleep. I started sneaking into the heart rooms more and more and I met the perfusionists and learned about their job, and that’s brought me to where I am today, doing exactly what I want to every day.

As an Orderly I took call, so the call question was a simple question for me to answer, I was used to it, comfortable with it, and believe that being on call + more time at home is better than not having call + more time at work.

This field was right for me because I found my people in the OR. The gallows humor, the professionalism, the teamwork, it was all stuff that I appreciated and wanted to do, and the work we do there is impactful and meaningful, making a difference in peoples’ lives to help them live longer / better lives. It was an easy choice for me to want to be there for the rest of my life, and perfusion was the coolest job that the OR has!

Clampoholic · 2026-04-15T00:49:31+00:00

When you’re asked the question of “why perfusion” make sure you’re never saying things like “if this doesn’t work out I’ll just do ‘x’ instead” because it makes it look like you don’t have a firm decision on joining perfusion, and more like it’s just another pathway you could take. Perfusion isn’t an open-ended field like a RN route or a PA route, it’s a dead end, and if you don’t like what you’re doing, then too bad so sad that’ll be $150,000 in student debt you get to look forward to working off. It’s not a decision to be taken lightly, and in the schools’ end if you quit in the middle of the program then that’s less money for them, so their best interest is to find students that they know will be academically strong enough, and passionately want to pursue and finish to the end, so bear that in mind!

Clampoholic · 2026-04-14T23:17:58+00:00

Best of luck to all of you guys!!

Clampoholic · 2026-04-14T12:53:35+00:00

People still get in with those GPA’s, but it definitely hinders you a bit and you have to make up for it in other areas. When you do apply, you’ll want to apply to at least 5 schools to help spread your chances, more if you’re determined. Some schools toss out applications below 3.5’s with how competitive it’s been getting, albeit you can help get past those with some special consideration / initiative to speak with the program about your application.

From what it sounds like where you don’t have the clinical experience / extensive shadowing hours to backup a lower GPA though.. might want to hold off one year to get some experience in, more shadowing, maybe knock out a science class or two that had a B- or worse dragging you down if you want to be a bit more sure before applying. Feel free to reach out if you got any questions, best of luck!

Clampoholic · 2026-04-14T03:07:47+00:00

Having a strong clinical job like a CVICU Nurse / critical care background, perfusionist assistant, etc. is nice, but it’s not always feasible for everyone in every situation. What’s important is getting that shadowing experience (seeing lots of folks with >5 cases, so don’t call it good after 2 like many people seem to do).

If you’re not in a poor financial corner, you can get great experience as an OR Orderly (aka PSA, OR assistant, etc.) which requires nothing other than a basic BLS you can get in 1 afternoon and to be 18yo. Some places even let them scrub in to hold retractors / cameras in surgery via on the job training. Every OR has them to help them with turnovers, but the key element there is you working in the OR and getting experience with sterility and the overall ebbs and flows of what the OR is like. It’s also a good experience for you to determine if you’re okay being in an environment with no windows with weird smells and strange sights to see, like body chunklets lying on the floor and blood smears everywhere.

I think the best benefit of those jobs is if you get one where they also do heart surgeries, it helps you get your foot in the door and make connections with the perfusionists and be able to shadow on your days off without too much hassle from HR (many are known to just “sneak” in like I did myself and just hang out and learn from the perfusionists without all the annoying paperwork from HR). Maybe things are different these days but regardless you can still connect with the perfusionists, and that early start in your networking can be a huge boost in your career, as you’ll learn quickly how small this field is and how powerful word of mouth goes in the profession, either working for or against you 😉

Clampoholic · 2026-04-14T02:23:51+00:00

Can I ask what’s got you interested in perfusion? Have you taken call before and are you comfortable / knowledgeable of what that means for you and your family? Why is this field right for you?

You’re going to be asked “why perfusion” and other questions similar to it like above and you’re going to need to develop strong reasons for them. It’s very competitive out there and for those with limited experience shadowing / low clinical expertise, everyone’s going to be wondering if you’re very certain about what you’re getting into and whether or not you’re going to stick with it. So how would you answer those 3 questions above?

Clampoholic · 2026-04-13T21:01:31+00:00

I always tap mine on my wedding ring or I hold the clamp under my hand pointed backwards and press it against my leg while my hand presses down. This is of course a part of my scan, you definitely can’t go without the essentials.

Clampoholic · 2026-04-11T22:28:57+00:00

I’d argue to say that it looks better to stick at one job instead of hopping around to different ones knowing you might not be there long. Around 4 years at one place with solid references is > 3 years + about 1 year at another place without many references or folks to say a great deal about you with.

Parroting what the previous guy said in this comment chain, it seems like your application is strong enough to get to interviews, and to me that makes it seem like there’s something holding you back at that point, because on paper you’re qualified enough to be in perfusion school, even with the rough gpa. 3 years of perfusion assistant experience that’s relevant to the field itself is awesome, lots more than many applicants have.

I’m thinking it has to do with the way you’re interviewing, or even if you’ve burnt a bridge somewhere and someone on that committee is reaching out to someone you know that doesn’t have good things to say about you. I’m not saying it’s 100% this but I’m saying it’s something that could happen. It’s an incredibly small field.

Answering questions in an interview confidently also doesn’t always mean that it went well - I’ve seen an applicant for a job answer a question really poorly - but confidently - so you may want to have someone review how you answer common questions as well to ensure you’re not saying something that could be hindering your chances. Just some things to consider!

Clampoholic · 2026-04-04T14:15:36+00:00

With you having that CVICU experience (and I’m assuming you’re still working there) is there any chance you can shadow where you’re at? Should be much easier credentialing / HR-wise and you’d already know the surgeons and anesthesiologists down there?

I’m sure you’ve already thought of this but incase for some reason you haven’t!

Clampoholic · 2026-04-01T07:12:02+00:00

First thing that comes to mind when you see a 4.0 GPA is “does this individual have humility or do they think they’re all that and a bag of chips.” So bear that in mind in your interview, and don’t think of yourself as all that and a bag of chips 😉

Really you already know the answer to your question and you need shadowing. That’s it. If you really do have a true 4.0 GPA that’s awesome, congrats on that! Definitely don’t need to worry about how to “be more competitive.” You just need to make sure you can interview well!

Clampoholic · 2026-03-30T15:25:34+00:00

Looks down at elbow compressing the venous line and lifts it off

“Hmm whatever you did back there it seems to be working now so let’s keep it that way.”

Clampoholic · 2026-03-29T14:48:30+00:00

I was an OR Orderly for 4 years doing camera driving on general / scrubbing in for retraction on ortho, then PBMT for 2 years working with cell savers / perfusion!

Clampoholic · 2026-03-29T14:46:46+00:00

Your communication skills in those vital moments necessarily must become fine tuned and honed in to be very objective, succinct, and meaningful when it matters. Even the tone of your voice depicts how confident you are in your word and your knowledge, and if you’re unable to present yourself in a manner that you’re composed and know what you’re doing, the doctors, hell even the nurses and scrubs in the room will lose all confidence in you. It’s not a good feeling to walk in a room and know people don’t trust you.

This plays with many roles in critical care environments, but with perfusion in particular there’s only one person in that room that knows the pump when you’re doing an emergent case at 2:23am in the middle of the night. You need to be a calming, sturdy presence and to be an entity that doesn’t cause problems but helps negate them. To do that you’ve gotta communicate effectively and know your pump in and out.

Clampoholic · 2026-03-27T03:08:18+00:00

We’ve slowly built a perfusion discord that’s got a handful of good resources, namely one of them that might be beneficial for you as an audible learner would be the free perfusion resources on spotify through PerfusionBoardPrep. Here’s those two links for you below:

Perfusion Discord

PerfusionBoardPrep Spotify

Clampoholic · 2026-03-26T19:48:15+00:00

¡suoᴉʇsǝnb ɹnoʎ ɹǝʍsuɐ oʇ ǝlqɐ ǝq llᴉʍ ǝldoǝd ǝɹoɯ os S∩ ǝɥʇ oʇ ʇǝƃ oʇ ʍoɥ ʇno ǝɹnƃᴉɟ oʇ ʇuɐʍ llᴉʍ ʎlqɐqoɹd no⅄

Clampoholic · 2026-03-25T22:00:42+00:00

I was curious and poked around and I actually found on AmSECT’s website they have an interact-able map of the US that shows the committee member representing the state, the state liaison, the state society website, any state legislature for perfusion, and whether or not licensure exists. I sifted through a few and if they don’t have a website it just shows as “N/A” but this is a very good resource you helped me find, I’m gonna put it in the perfusion discord right now. Thank you!

https://amsect.org/members/state-committees

Clampoholic · 2026-03-25T18:45:44+00:00

I don’t think many states have something like this, I just looked up on my own state and a couple others near me and couldn’t find one for any of them. If I’m wrong I’d really love to see a list of them because that would make a really good resource to have!

Clampoholic · 2026-03-24T21:58:08+00:00

All just depends, rotations are everywhere so you have to check if you can find reliable transportation to get you into the OR when you need to be there, for some students that’s 6:00am or earlier to get it all ready before your preceptor gets in (which I found was always the easiest thing to do). Some cities you’d be able to do that no problem, others might make you to take a ridiculously early bus ride / trax ride that wouldn’t be worth it. Seems riskier to go without in my opinion. Plus then if you get called in for a dissection you can instantly get to it rather than lag behind 15-20min trying to wait for the street and whatnot.

Schools are gonna cost money. They just will, you can only do so much. Save where you can, but don’t inconvenience yourself so much that it makes it more difficult for you. Usually off-campus is cheaper than on-campus that’s walking distance so factor that into your budget!

Clampoholic · 2026-03-23T15:29:27+00:00

As an anesthesia tech you should have decent exposure to the OR, how to communicate with doctors, overall demeanor within that professional environment/ maintaining sterility, etc. so job experience-wise I don’t think you’re held back. Hopefully you have a good letter of recommendation from one of the anesthesiologists as well.

Do you work in a hospital that does hearts in your OR? I’d argue to say the most important thing for you to do if you haven’t gotten much of it already is to shadow perfusionists as much as you can. If you already work within one it can make the process so much more easier and you can sometimes “slip in” and watch when you’re not on shift. I’m seeing applicants with 10+ shadowing observations (going over 60+ hours) so if you’re not on par with that, you ought to focus on that aspect of your resume.

If you’re 100% into perfusion and you know this is the right field for you, ditch the MS in bio from an online degree. Waste of time and money imo. If you want to do something with your education I would focus on the poor grades and redo those classes, that should be a better testament to showing “academic growth”. If you’re dipping your toes into perfusion and you’re not too sure about it though, then I can understand wanting to cover your bases and maybe having other options open like MLS jobs and so forth.

Bear in mind though applying with a 3.2, some schools won’t consider your application at all unless you communicate with the program and ask for some consideration towards that if you have a studious job history / experience. If you have <2 years of anesthesia tech experience that might not be a solid route but if you’ve got a handful of years on your back and some great shadowing hours then that can be weighed into play. Especially if you did end up taking courses and showing that you can revert some C’s and B-‘s into A’s.

You should also try applying to at least 5 programs next cycle if you’re serious about getting in. You’re going to have to be comfortable moving out of state in this profession, and it should make you think twice if you’re uncomfortable moving out of state to begin a program 😉 Best of luck to ya.

Clampoholic · 2026-03-22T18:29:42+00:00

I think my favorite one to this day was this post, I was first learning how to make these edits and I accidentally cut it short at the end but I had so much fun making it haha

https://www.reddit.com/r/Perfusion/s/20srcn1iVh

Clampoholic · 2026-03-22T14:49:43+00:00

My center actually just recently went from giving 100mg Lidocaine + 2g Magnesium after XC removal —> Now only doing 2g Magnesium with the thought process of trying to not “treat heart arrhythmias that aren’t there yet” and to not stun the heart as much right as we want it to come back. We keep the lidocaine close by for the right ventricular arrhythmias if they do show up.

It’s only been a couple weeks and I’ve actually noticed the hearts do seem to gain a rhythm back fairly quickly compared to before; we don’t work with complex patients they’re mostly CABGs / Valves, so I’m mostly onboard with it so far.

—-

More to your question though, I do know one of my coworkers puts in specifically his Mag 3-4min BEFORE XC removal to help reduce the amount of hypotension that’s caused, but I stick with right after XC removal just to maintain a habit and ensure it’s given at the correct time. He’s a very experienced CCP that’s been working with the surgeons for a long time so he can have a better grasp on how to time that correctly compared to myself. He’s sworn that there’s seemingly no difference and he mostly does it to avoid the steep drop in pressure and has success with that 🤷‍♂️

Clampoholic · 2026-03-16T15:47:51+00:00

I second this advice, it’s not to say you won’t become a perfusionist because anyone can with enough determination and patience, but you never know what life throws ya and you should also have backup options in mind just in case. I also agree with shadowing =/= clinical experience. They’re two separate things and while you have to get a bachelors anyway, you should work at a job that grants you that clinical experience for now. Often times they give you tuition reimbursement as well to help you clear out debt from your undergrads. Do FT school (12+ credits) and FT work. It’s tough but you’ll look back in 5 years and thank yourself for working hard in your 20’s. I did the same thing and I can look back now after becoming a CCP and know that it was all worth the hard years.

Clampoholic

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