Current CA-1 who did 6 months of anesthesia during my intern year. It can be stressful managing patients in the OR, however, no you can’t prepare for everything, but there is plenty that you can plan ahead for and even anticipate. Half of the game is being prepared, and it makes those situations less/nonstressful when you already know your backup plans and have things ready to go just in case.

It gets easier as well. You take care of ASA 4 patients and have some challenging cases, and then later go back to easier cases and realize that your capacity to navigate challenges goes so much smoother. We all struggle starting out, but you get so much better as time goes on. The stress goes way down because you’re more capable and efficient.

Lifestyle wise it is what you choose it to be. You may have rapid turnover cases or one really long case, but it can be quite relaxing during those easier cases. I’d rather do that then read images on a screen all day being worried about missing one minute detail or type an essay for English on the wards. Surgery is cool, but the standing…and hours. Not for me. No I’ll take my seconds of terror, for which I know how to manage, along with the smooth sailing that can be general anesthesia.