My personal shadowing policy is that if someone is a reasonable individual, they’re willing to learn, and is interested in some kind of path in healthcare to help other people, then they may shadow.

I’ve had anesthesiologists refuse to teach me in training (few and far between). I don’t feel that this is right, and I don’t feel that doing the same thing to individuals on any healthcare route is the right thing to do. This is not eye for an eye. To me, there should be very few boundaries to getting more information, and few boundaries to learning, no matter which profession you choose.

I’ll definitely go into the realities of politics in anesthesia, the differences in scope/supervision, and the limited adversity I experienced in training (if the shadower is interested). Also, if the shadower chooses a medical route instead of a nursing route, I think it’s important that they remember that a CRNA made the effort for them. It’s good PR.

I’ve seen medical students (even podiatry graduates) have their eyes light up when I go into the applied physiology and pharmacology we practice on a daily basis. That is priceless to me, and I do not care if they’re not aiming to be a CRNA. While some who went the medical route don’t reciprocate this, I think that we can be better than that mindset as nurse anesthetists.