Anesthesia Guidebook Jon Lowrance

What’s up yall! I am back after a few months off from the podcast. This is episode 106 – following up: what we know about anesthesia school formatting with Cassie Capps.







This is a follow up show to the episode that Cassie brought to us back in December on the effects of anesthesia school didactic formatting on resident wellbeing… whether in-person, online, synchronous or asynchronous styles have any effect on your wellbeing as a trainee.







Before we get to this show, I’ve got a couple updates for you… our crew at Maine Medical Center has been on a bit of tour this spring attending conferences, job fairs and universities telling the story about our team and why we may be where you want to invest your career as an anesthesia provider. Cat Godfrey & April Bourgoin were just down at AANA’s Mid Year Assembly in Washington D.C. and then Cat made her way on to University of North Carolina at Greensboro to chat with the residents at Terry Wick’s program. She followed up dropping in on UNC-G with a virtual lunch & learn session with Mary Baldwin University’s anesthesia program over in Virginia. And then, Kristin and I just returned last week from Florida International University’s job fair down in Miami. We were so happy to know that even the locals thought it was super hot cause oooooooo….eeeeeeee… it was swimmy humid and all kinda hot down in the Sunshine State. We were stoked to meet a bunch of FIU anesthesia residents and tell yall about our absolutely gorgeous summers and four season climate up in Maine and how we’re probably where you want to start your career if you’re looking for a top notch level 1 trauma center to be at where you’re treated with respect, well-supported and want to join a thriving team that has a ton of fun working together. Just saying.







Part of my intention with Anesthesia Guidebook is to help CRNAs make a successful transition to practice and if you’re looking to do high acuity work in a busy tertiary medical center surrounded by an amazing team and in a phenomenal location, drop me a line and we can chat. I’d love to tell you more about our crew and see if we’re a good fit for where you’re headed.







In other news, this fall I’m teaching at Encore Symposium’s Autumn in Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park conference. If you’re looking for a spot to come knock out some continuing education this year, Encore is headed back to Bar Harbor, Maine, which is just outside of Acadia National Park, from October 14-17. If you’ve never been to Acadia, or Bar Harbor or Maine… this is your chance. Come check it out. Acadia in October is simply stunning… a national park, on an island, in Maine. With your anesthesia friends! You’ll be hard pressed to find a cooler spot to come get your learn on. Hope to see you there!







All right… with that, let’s get to this show. Cassie Capps is back. We first heard from Cassie in late December 2024 on episode 99 of Anesthesia Guidebook and now she’s back to walk us through the impact of anesthesia school didactic formatting on resident wellbeing. Thank to everyone who took Cassie’s survey and provided your insights… the data was actually a bit surprising so let me re-introduce Cassie to you and then she’s gonna get right to it.







This podcast was part of Cassie Capps’ Doctor of Nursing Practice in anesthesiology program at the University of Arizona. Prior to anesthesia training,

What’s up yall! This is Jon Lowrance and this is episode 105 of Anesthesia Guidebook – the impact of precepting on clinical learning with Jennifer Heiden. This episode is coming out on February 21, 2024.







Jennifer Heiden is completing her Doctor of Nursing Practice in anesthesiology at the University of Arizona and this podcast is part of her doctoral work. In this episode, we’re going to walk through the behaviors, tips & techniques preceptors can do in order to positively impact the clinical learning outcomes of anesthesia residents. Jennifer wants to hear about your experiences either as an anesthesia trainee or as a clinical preceptor in the survey that is attached to this episode. The link is in the show notes. It’s a quick survey, totally anonymous and will be used to help Jennifer complete her doctoral project at the University of Arizona.







Survey Link is Here:







https://uarizona.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_88sSJwSor8yDoGy







Prior to anesthesia training, Jennifer worked in medical, surgical and cardiac ICUs for 8 years on the East and West coasts. Prior to nursing school, Jennifer completed a bachelor’s degree in finance from Boston University and lived in Colorado for almost twenty years hiking, running and climbing in the mountains. 







She currently lives in Temecula, California, and has been working through anesthesia school as a single mom to her 14-year-old son. She still enjoys climbing, running and spending time with her son and all their animals.







I hope you enjoy this show. The mission of Anesthesia Guidebook is to help you master your craft as a provider. The art & science of clinical precepting is foundational to raising the next generation of highly competent providers. I’m thrilled to take a fresh look at precepting with Jennifer and you can find lots of other shows on Anesthesia Guidebook that touch on clinical education with links to each of those in the show notes to this episode.







And if you’d like to get the show notes to these podcasts straight to your inbox, along with being the first to know when a new episode drops, subscribe to the show on the website. All that does is send you the episode & show notes, nothing more & no hidden agenda. It’s totally free and I will never sell or distribute your email. So if you want to be the first to know and have all the links right at your finger tips, subscribe to show at AnesthesiaGuidebook.com!







#8 – How to master precepting with Will C0hen







#21 – Best practices in precepting with Obinna Odumodo







#22 – The demo-do teaching technique







#55 – Incivility in the Workplace with Joshua Lea, DNP, MBA, CRNA & Kelly Gallant, PhD, CRNA







#74 – Thrive in Training: how to crush clinical







#75 – Thrive in Training: communicating with preceptors

Chuck Biddle PhD, CRNA is a Professor Emeritus of anesthesiology at Virginia Commonwealth University and served as the editor in chief of the AANA Journal for 35 years.  His anesthesia education & master’s degree are from Old Dominion University and he completed his PhD in Epidemiology at the University of Missouri.  







Chuck is one of my favorite people in the world of anesthesiology.  He’s one of those folks who have put the time in over decades to develop a true, deep mastery of their profession while at the same time bringing with them a level of authenticity, integrity and humility that garners true respect.  He’s a guide.  He’s helped countless physician & nurse anesthesiology trainees develop and gain a love of the work we do.  And one of the central focuses of his career has been fervently working to understand the things that put our patients at risk and develop research and insights for practice to advance patient safety.







Which brings us to this show.  







In this episode, Dr Biddle turns our attention to what happens to patients after they go home from day surgery.  We talk about a study his team did at VCU where they sent patients home with pulse oximeter monitors and tracked their course for 48 hours following day surgery. 







We talk how novel this idea is in that very few studies have actually looked at what happens to patients following ambulatory surgery and that a certain segment of these patients – those who have obstructive sleep apnea are at particular risk for devastating postoperative complications.  Chuck points to Jonathan Benumof’s, MD 2016 article in the Canadian Journal of Anesthesia titled Mismanagement of patients with obstructive sleep apnea may result in finding these patients dead in bed (full article below).  Dr Benumof is a world-renowned physician anesthesiology and expert in airway management and pulmonary physiology. He is a professor of anesthesiology at the University of California – San Diego’s School of Medicine. Over the 15 years prior to the publication of Dr Benumof’s article in which he served as an expert witness in litigation cases, he testified on 12 cases where OSA patients died within 48 hours of surgery.  In  the article, he unpacks each of those cases and provides the following prototypical dead in bed OSA patient:







“A 58-yr-old continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP)-compliant male (170 cm, 120 kg, body mass index 40 kgm-2) with polysomnography (PSG)-proven severe OSA undergoes orthopedic, upper airway, or abdominal surgery under general anesthesia. The patient has an uncomplicated stay in the postanesthesia care unit until discharged to an unmonitored bed without CPAP or oxygen. After receiving small (and within standard of care) doses of narcotics for pain for 11 hr, the patient is found DIB [dead in bed]. Advanced cardiac life support is either not attempted or fails to return the patient to their baseline state of life (Benumof, 2016).”







This episode is one of those discussions that makes you see the work you do in a whole new light and gives you a renewed sense of ownership over making sure you and your colleagues are doing the right thing for your patients.  This show is coming out on 28 January 2024 and was originally recorded at VCU’s studio with a table top microphone back in the summer of 2017.  I apologize that the audio is a little hazy but the power of Dr Biddle’s research and passion for this topic are still very much relevant to providers today.  So with that, let’s get to the show!







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What’s up folks! This is Jon Lowrance with Anesthesia Guidebook and this is episode 103… a deep dive on dexmedetomidine with Eliana Zimmerman. This episode is coming out on January 21, 2024.







Before we get to the show I want to remind folks that I’ll be speaking in person at the Encore Symposiums’ Autumn in Bar Harbor & Acadia National Park conference running October 14-17 of this year. If you have never been to Maine, this is a great excuse to make it up here. And even if you have been or if you live here in vacationland… there’s scarcely a better place to be than Bar Harbor in October. It’s absolutely stunning. Peak leaf season usually hits in October for Bar Harbor, which is a coastal village just outside the entrance to Acadia National Park. Just google those key words… Acadia National Park – October. Or peak leaf season Bar Harbor. Then sign up for the conference ASAP because this one usually sells out quick. It’s Encore Symposiums’ Autumn in Bar Harbor & Acadia National Park conference, running October 14-17. I’m looking forward to bringing fresh perspectives on what’s new in anesthesia, pharmacology, ERAS, airway management & more for this conference. You’ll also get to meet a bunch of my friends & crew from Maine Medical Center, as this is one our team’s favorite conferences to attend… it’s close to home and has absolutely breath-taking scenery. I hope to see you there!







This is the second show I’ve done specific to dexmedetomidine… you’d have to go back a full 100 episodes… way back to episode #2 for the other show, which I did with Matt Poirier who I continue to work alongside at Maine Medical Center.







In this show, Eliana Zimmerman joins me to unpack the literature on perioperative use of dexmedetomidine, specifically focusing on the clinical impacts of dexmedetomidine in colorectal surgery.







As part of her doctorate research at Northeastern University, Eliana completed a series of expert panel inquires, synthesized with current literature, to arrive at recommendations for best practice concerning the use of dexmedetomidine in colorectal surgery. Her infographic and resources are provided in the show notes.







Eliana Zimmerman graduated Wesleyan University with a degree in Neuroscience in 2017, and University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Nursing in 2018. She worked as an ICU nurse at Jefferson Methodist Hospital from 2019 – 2022. She is currently a nurse anesthesia doctoral student at Northeastern University with an anticipated graduation of May 2025. In her limited free time she likes to backpack, run, and spend time outdoors. Her fiancé, two cats, and dog have kept her sane during the long days of anesthesia training.  







References







Chen, C., Huang, P., Lai, L., Luo, C., Ge, M., Hei, Z., Zhu, Q., & Zhou, S. (2016). Dexmedetomidine improves gastrointestinal motility after laparoscopic resection of colorectal cancer: A randomized clinical trial. Medicine (Baltimore), 95(29), e4295–e4295. https://doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000004295







Chen, H., & Li, F. (2020). Effect of Dexmedetomidine with Different Anesthetic Dosage on Neurocognitive Function in Elderly Patients After Operation Based on Neural Network Model. World Neurosurgery, 138, 688–695. https://doi.

Brad & Madisson Marcum join me to talk about the dynamics of being married and going to anesthesia school together. They met in nursing school, had divergent paths professionally for a bit, with Brad starting nurse practitioner school and Madisson considering anesthesia school. They ended up sharing the same goal of becoming CRNAs and we talk through their approach to applying together, getting into the University of Evansville together and working through the program alongside one another.







In episode 15, I talked with Jenny & Robert Montague about what it’s like for the significant others of anesthesia residents. Jenny has her Master of Science in Nutrition and works as a Registered Dietitian and supported Robert and their 2 kids while he attended the University of New England’s anesthesia program.







In epsisode 50, I caught up with Lein & Nate Woodin to talk specifically on parenting in anesthesia school. Nate is a family therapist and supported Lein and their 2 kids while she went through the University of New England’s anesthesia program.







In this episode, Brad & Madisson Marcum talk about what it’s like to both get into and work through anesthesia school together. We’re planning for this to be the first in a series of conversations with them as they progress through their program. They’re just finishing their first year of training and have yet to start clinicals. I plan to touch base with them down to the road to see how that phase of the program goes.







Folks are often making difficult decisions around when to do anesthesia school. For a couple in my program, the husband went through school 2 years ahead of his wife, who was in my class, and they overlapped for just one semester. A local couple here in Portland stacked their programs end to end with one of them fully completing the program and a semester after that, the other starting anesthesia school. That stretched their anesthesia training experience to a full six years as a couple.







My hope is that this conversation with Brad & Madisson helps you and your partner think through the considerations around what you want to do or how it’s going for you if you’re currently in a program.







Brad hails from Salem, Illinois and spent 5 years as a critical care Registered Nurse in the cardio thoracic & transplant ICUs at Mayo Clinic prior to starting anesthesia school in the University of Evansville’s DNAP program. His clinical interests are regional anesthesia and opioid sparring anesthetic techniques with an emphasis on pharmacology and pharmacogenetics.







Madisson is from Effingham, Illinois and also spent 5 years as a critical care Registered Nurse in the trauma surgical ICU at Mayo Clinic in Rochester prior to anesthesia training. Her clinical interests are regional anesthesia and difficult airway management.







They are focusing their doctoral project on the functionality and effectiveness of virtual reality training in anesthesia programs and plan to utilize Peter Stallo’s SIMVANA VR platform for research. You may remember my conversation with Peter in episode 96 on SIMVANA and virtual reality in anesthesia education. It’s a fascinating discussion on what will likely become a central element to anesthesia education in years to come.







Long term, Brad & Madisson intend to become involved in medial mission trips and create a pediatric charity foundation to provide basic necessities to children in need in their local area following anesthesia school.

This is an incredibly special podcast that I’m thrilled to pull forward from our old show, From the Head of the Bed, to Anesthesia Guidebook.







I love that this episode is number 101 because EKG lead selection should be 101-level knowledge for anesthesia providers, yet so many folks have not mastered this fundamental knowledge as part of their practice. I hope you get as much from this as I have over the years.







Dr Mark Kossick was a full professor of anesthesia at Western Carolina University when my wife, Kristin, and I attended the program and he actually just retired in late 2023 from that university. Kristin arranged for Dr Kossick to contribute his expertise to this podcast while we were still in the program back in early 2015 and this episode was released as one of the original group of podcasts that launched From the Head of the Bed that year.







Dr Kossick will give a more detailed introduction of his professional background at the start of this show – and, I’m thrilled to have Kristin’s voice on the podcast with all her pre-Mainer southern drawl – as she introduces him. Dr Kossick was known as an incredibly challenging yet supportive professor. His area of expertise was intra-operative monitoring and the uptake and distribution of volatile anesthetics. He had a passion for the many beautiful curves of the science of anesthesia, whether it was the oxyhemoglobin dissociation curve, the Fa/Fi curve or one of the many other curves that define the science behind what we do every day. Kristin and I and so many other CRNAs from WCU, the University of Alabama at Birmingham and others have learned so much from Dr Kossick and consider ourselves fortunate to have sat in and survived his classes.







This is an incredibly thorough review of the very basics of EKG lead placement, selection and monitoring for anesthesia care. This is a skill and knowledge set that, unfortunately, many anesthesia providers and perioperative nursing staff overlook and blaze past. As Dr Kossick says in the show, simply having a EKG pattern on the screen from careless placement of EKG leads is not enough for safe monitoring. Dr Kossick walks us through the core data on EKG monitoring, including some modified leads, so this show is excellent for both trainees and experienced providers alike.