Rianne Rosenow

Mrs. Ehrle
Health Careers
15 May 2015
Job Shadow Experience
Primarily, I have participated in a Career Event on April 2nd at the
Aurora clinic in Oshkosh. After this, I had was able to take part in an actual
job shadow. With that, I have completed my job shadow at the Orthopedic &
Sports Institute of the Fox Valley. This was done on Friday, May 8 from 7am to
11am. I began by job shadowing Dr. Chris Weinlander, M.D. but ended up
meeting and shadowing him and two other anesthesiologists. An
anesthesiologist would be under the therapeutic pathways because they help
the patient while in surgery.
I was very fortunate throughout my job shadow, and got to encounter
and experience numerous surgeries and other aspects. First, I was to change
into scrubs and prepare for the first surgery. When the room was set, the
patient was sent in. Since this surgery was just a left carpal tunnel, the only
anesthetic needed was in the arm. I got to stand right next to the surgeon
who explained what he was doing and showed me where the ligaments and
everything else were located. I unfortunately did not get to see this patient
wake up because I began to feel lightheaded and on the verge of passing
out. After a ten minute break, I was ready for the next surgery. I went with
the next anesthesiologist (who told me to refer to him as Randy) and we

talked with the incoming patient and her husband to see if they had any last
questions before the surgery. After that we made sure the room was
prepared by the nurses and the lady came in. Randy showed me and told me
all of the anesthetics he gave her and then she was out within 5 seconds.
Then the surgeon came in and I got to experience a knee arthroscopy (knee
arthritis). As I sat next to Randy, I could see everything they did within this
surgery. After the surgery and it was all stitched up, Randy gave the patient
medication to wake up and she was then wheeled to the recovery center.
Here we gave the nurses all her information and recorded her blood
pressure, heart rate etc. This is also done by the anesthesiologist right before
putting the patient to sleep. This way we can refer to their normal before
sending them off to the nurses. The next thing I got to experience was a hip
replacement. However, this surgery began at 7:30 and took about 3 hours,
so I only got to encounter the stiches at the end as well as waking the
patient up and wheeling him to the recovery center. Lastly, I got to see how
the nurses sterilized the room from the previous surgery and prepped it for
the next. After this, the next patient (a 12 year old girl) was brought in. I was
with another anesthesiologist who told me about the medications he was
giving her. He then observed and recorded her information (like blood
pressure, heart rate etc.), then she was asleep again within 5 seconds. In this
surgery they had to drill into the growth plate of her knee so make one leg
stop growing too fast because her legs were different lengths. In this surgery
there was many x-rays needed to the surgeon could see where exactly the

plate was located, so we had to wear lead jackets. Again, after the stitches,
she was woken up and brought to recovery. Upon this fourth surgery it was
time for me to go.
5 Questions for Host

Title of health care practitioner: Anesthesiologist

Job is part of: Therapeutic Pathway
Role played in providing health care: They administer substances to
manage the patients pain before and during surgery. They ensure
comfort, well-being and safety of the patient. They also interview the
patient before and institute immediate emergency measures when

necessary.
Six functions performed:
o Got background information on the patient and talked to them
before the surgery to answer any questions/confusion
o Record vitals, blood pressure, breathing and amount of
anesthesia given
o Insert the anesthesia and calm the patient as they fall asleep
o Record any observations during surgery/watch patient and
machines at all times
o Were prepared if anything went wrong with the patient and had
the medications all ready to go
o Gave medication to wake the patient up post-surgery and took
them to the recovery area/recorded the patients final status &

informed nurse
Education Required:
o 4 year bachelor degree
o 4 year medical school
o 4 year anesthetic schooling
Other places they can work: hospitals, with pediatrics, in clinics, as well
as pain clinics

Interview Questions
1. How did you become interested in this type of work? When I went to
medical school, I didnt even know this job existed but I really enjoyed
medicines and medications so I thought it would be fitting.
2. What classes did you take in high school that prepared you for your
job? Chemistry, biology and physics however, you dont have to like
them, just have to be good at them. Another class I wish I would have
taken is human anatomy.
3. How are technology demands increasing or changing? Technology will
constantly be changing, and will probably be completely different by
your time. However, since it has already greatly changed, theres
been increasingly less complications making the job a lot easier.
4. How many hours do you work in a typical day? Depends, usually
around 5 surgeries a day (obviously some take longer than others) but
most of the time its 12 hour shifts. However, you can be called like I
was last night to give an epidural.
5. What type of dependence do you have on others to accomplish your
job? I need to be on time. Its important that I have the patient under
in time for when the surgeon comes in ready to begin. If I delay, then
the entire surgery delays.
6. What is the salary ranges for the different levels within this field? It
depends where you work or what/if you specialize in anything.
Otherwise its typically between $170,950 and $166,400+.

7. How are raises earned? That again depends on the place you are
working at.
8. What kind of personal satisfaction do you get from your job? I enjoy
seeing patients recover and just knowing that Im essentially the first
and last person to help them throughout their surgery.
9. If you could start over would you change professions? Why or why
not? No, not if I knew I would be where I am today. But if I werent
this lucky, maybe just because of all the time Ive dedicated to
schooling.
10.
What advice would you give a student interested in this career?
Realize how long youll be in schooling and essentially youll be
missing all of your 20s. Its a fairly large commitment.
11.
What are the stresses that come with this job? Being held
responsible for the patients care during the surgery is a huge one.

Overall, I found this to be a wonderful eye-opening experience. Ive

learned so much along the way. First off I learned a little about myself. I now
know that Im probably not the best person for a surgeon. After I almost
passed out I realized that maybe being the person directly doing the surgery
is not for me. Im glad I realized this now, because when I was younger Ive
debated on what I want to be in the future and had kept a surgeon in mind.
However, I also have had an anesthesiologist in mind. After this job shadow,
I realize that this is definitely something I could see myself doing. Knowing
that I personally do not have to do the surgery is relieving. I think I would
really like to help the patient and be there for them. I also enjoy being

organized and keeping record which is also involved in this job. Like Randy
said, If you dont want to talk with the patient, you can just knock them
out. The only part where Im a little leery about this occupation is the
amount of schooling. I need to ask myself if this is what I want in my future.
A huge aspect that surprised me was the stress level. Before going I had
always thought that an anesthesiologist was always stressed and under a lot
of pressure, however Ive learned different. When I asked the 3rd
anesthesiologist if hes ever had complications he said no because todays
technology overcomes and helps with a lot of them. I found this also
relieving. It was also neat to see that they can joke around with the rest of
the surgical team and not be fully serious 100% of the time. In my
perspective, there were both positives and negatives to the job. Positives
include the following: ability to help people, the salary, the huge role they
play among the surgical team, and the fact they dont actually participate in
the surgery part. On the other side, the few negatives include: the long
amount of schooling needed, and the price of schooling these days. In
conclusion, I thought this was one of the coolest things I have gotten to
experience and I am so lucky to have been a part of such a great
opportunity.