According to NIH, Anesthesia is a treatment that prevents patients from feeling pain during medical procedures such as surgery, suture, tissue sample removal , and dental work. There are three main types of anesthesia, general, regional and local anesthesia. When patients are given general anesthesia, they are completely unconscious during the surgery or procedure, while local and regional anesthesia simply numb the part or area of the body that is being operated on and allows a patient to remain conscious during procedures. I spoke to Dr. Neeraj Verma, Associate Chief Anesthesiologist and Orthopedic Anesthesiologist at Northwest Hospital and Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, MD about his work in this field.
Background
Dr. Verma has over 16 years of experience as an orthopedic anesthesiologist, specializes in orthopedic anesthesia, and primarily takes care of patients with sports-related injuries and knee injuries. Dr. Verma chose to pursue anesthesiology because he loves the fact that he could help save a patient's life in case of emergency. He also enjoys being able to alleviate a patient’s pain, and help to calm down anxious patients. According to Dr. Verma, patients are most scared just before a surgical operation and anesthesiologists “talk to the patient, hold their hand and keep them calm.” This is very important because many times patients may not have any family around right before the surgery, so the anesthesiologist plays a critical role in helping to reassure the patient before the surgery.
Knee Injuries
Knee injuries are typically caused by misuse of the knee when young, wearing of improper shoes or shoes without the proper shock absorbers, running, jogging and putting too much pressure on the knee. Dr. Verma recommended that athletes wear good shock absorbent shoes and try to avoid putting too much stress on their knees. As knee injuries are very common among athletes, I asked Dr. Verma if the possibility of cartilage regeneration was in the near future. He said “I can foresee a lot of advancement in this area in the future due to developments in genetic engineering.” He said that there is a lot of research being done on cartilage regeneration at Johns Hopkins and other institutions, and it is possible that research in genetics could lead to a breakthrough in this area.
Work Schedule and Practices
Dr. Verma typically works 50 to 60 hours per week. He performs approximately 70 joint surgeries per month in addition to other surgeries and procedures such as endoscopies. His work day varies depending on the activities and surgeries. According to Dr. Verma “Due to the opioid crisis, anesthesiologists are currently focused on providing narcotic-free anesthesia to patients during and after surgeries so that patients do not become dependent on the drugs.” To accomplish this, the anesthesiologists use nerve blockers catheters during surgery that pump local anesthesia and help the patient sleep during the procedure. These nerve blockers do not contain narcotics and help minimize patients’ dependence on opioids.
Rewards and Challenges
Dr. Verma described his biggest reward as “taking away the patient’s pain, being there when they need you the most, making them feel comfortable throughout the process and seeing them leave the surgery with a smile on their face.” On the other hand, the most challenging part of the job is the lack of patient interaction which could lead to a high burnout rate. The patient only interacts with the Anesthesiologist before the surgery after which there is no further interaction. In fact, the patient may not even remember who the anesthesiologist was after the surgery. Also, if anything goes wrong with the surgery, the anesthesiologist could be sued. Unfortunately, there are some unsuccessful surgeries and some people die during surgery; seeing death at such a close range can be very difficult and hard to deal with and could easily lead to burnout
Recommendations
I asked Dr. Verma for any recommendations for someone interested in the field and he said “Don’t go into the field for money. It’s a wonderful field, but you have to love it or you could easily burn out.” He recommended that students do a lot research in different areas in order to find what they enjoyed most before pursuing that area of medicine. He also said that college and medical school is not a time for students to have fun, rather, it’s a time to work hard and prepare for your future. “Students should try to set themselves apart by working hard at school, performing research, publishing papers, volunteering at places like the Red Cross, EMT, etc., and working with a doctor who can mentor and guide you and help you write a good recommendation for medical school.”
https://www.nigms.nih.gov/education/fact-sheets/Pages/anesthesia.aspx#:~:text=Anesthesia%20is%20a%20medical%20treatment,to%20healthier%20and%20longer%20lives.
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