7 years ago
Monday, February 8, 2010
blog stalking
So one benefit of driving 30 minutes to class (to an even smaller town) is getting the chance to meet up with two couples who live up there. They do a lot of fun stuff, let it be said that neither has any children, so they are in a fully free state to come and go as they please. I emailed Julie because she is a pharmacist and wanted to chat with her about this profession I am considering (for reasons that still seem ridiculous to me at times:-). Anyway, when she emailed back I saw a link to her blog at the bottom and thought, hmmmm, so I read all about her--They hang out a lot with this other couple and had links to their blog, and Patricia's photography blog. Let's just say that when I look at her pictures it makes me wonder, "Do you live on the same rez as I do?!" I will happily purchase some of her photos to have in my house and enjoy the beauty of the desert that I don't often see when I look out my window.
When I just looked at their blog to steal some pics, I saw that they recently went on another random, fun, couple excursion. After the storm, they loaded up their 4x4s and their skiis, and their snowchains, and drove to a road that is closed for winter, and then put the chains on the cars and kept driving, and then put on their skiis and skiid down the snow covered road. Awesome! If only we could keep up with them :-)
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2 comments:
Hey Amber,
This is Julie Steele-Pruett. I found your blog via some "blog stalking". Where do you guys live? Those photos are gorgeous! And after being in medicine a few years, I think being a pharmacist has to have some GREAT perks! :) But sadly, I quickly realized during cardiac pharmacology (my only pharm class) that pharm and I were not going to be good friends.
Hey Amber,
Not sure how in depth you want me to get, but here's an some info on perfusion.
Perfusionists work in the cardiac OR and run the heart-lung machine. They take over the functions of the heart and lung, use a drug combination known as cardioplegia to stop the heart, maintain the patient's pH balance, cool (to decrease body metabolism) and rewarm the patient, administer drugs, etc. Basically a tube is inserted into the right atrium or svc & ivc. This tube brings blood back to a reservoir at the pump. Out of the reservoir the blood goes through tubing to a pump (the "heart), which pumps blood forward at appx 4-5 liters/min. The blood then enters an oxygenator ("lung"), where we control gas exchange and can deliver O2 to the blood and remove CO2. Then the blood enters a heat exchanger where it is heated or cooled before being transported through another tube placed in the aorta. We do a lot of ancillary stuff too including cell saving and platelet gel, as well as running our own blood gases in the OR.
I love my job. It is possible to do part time or even per diem, but you have to be open to possibilities. By that I mean, if you want a job in a specific area you should expect a wait (unless it's the mid west or back east where there's always jobs open). I've been trying to get back to phx, but the credentialing process is so tedious it's hard to get a job there. The hours are variable and unless you work per diem, you take call. Call can vary depending on the institution you work at. Sometimes you won't go in, other days you'll go in in the middle of the night for an emergency. In more rural programs, the surgeons don't want to operate at night and will wait til the morning. Places like Phoenix where it's all private practice, the surgeons will operate wherever and whenever. There are days I wish I had set hours and knew i'd be able to make it to something. But there are days I'm done at 11am and get to go home or when I'm on call and never go in. Pay is good. 60k+ for a new grad. With about 5 years experience average is in the 80-90k range. And around 10 years you should be approaching 100k, but again totally depends on location and what type of program you work for. At UCLA I was making over 110k as a new grad because I worked a lot of call and overtime. Now I make less.
I'm sure you have more specific questions now. Feel free to email me @ jsteelepruett@gmail.com and I'll get you more info.
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