UCSD Anesthesia

PArking & Directions

Purchase the monthly parking pass so you can park in “B” spots. The Athena parking structure will have availability at the time you come in, closer garages will be full. Use the staff entrance and the 3rd level is the first one that has B spaces. From there it is a straight walk to Jacob’s medical center. Staff have to go through the pearlman building entrance and show your survey results, scan your badge and then get a colored sticker. The OR is on the 2nd floor of the Jacob’s building. First day take the elevators up and they will leave you in a very long white hallway. Turn left out of the elevators and take that all the way to the end and turn right. You will see the OR main desk, ask the clerk for scrubs to be added to your card, locker rooms are back down the hallway you just came from. For females the locker room is through an unlabeled set of double doors. You have to scan your badge to open the doors. It has a sign that says “corridor authorized personnel only” go through there and then locker room on the right at the end. 

how to choose your cases

Looking at the magnetic OR board with names will tell you which anesthesia attending/CRNA/resident is assigned to what room. Left to right the first magnet is the attending and blue magnets are CRNA and orange is residents. I stuck to the CRNA or attending only rooms as that was what was recommended to me. Then look at the tv screens that shows you what the case is and when they are starting. Most of their ortho cases just get blocks, no general anesthesia so not worth your time. Stick to spine, laparoscopic or robot cases to get tubes. From there I would head to the room to try and meet up with anesthesia and introduce yourself and ask to do the airway with them. They may ask you to go introduce yourself to the patient and do an airway exam (mouth opening, neck mobility, loose teeth, etc). You will find the patients in the pre-op area directly past the OR desk. The board in the preop area lists cases by OR number and surgeon so that’s how I would find them. You can also post outside this area and run into anesthesia as well if you don’t find them in the room. 

start times

First cases start at 720 so need to be there by 645 to find a room to start in. Wednesday all cases start at 820. I usually walked with anesthesia to get the patient and then would help hook up monitors and get them situated in the OR. They will usually cue you when they are ready for you to start doing the airway. Be alert a couple of the CRNAs don’t use stylets in their tubes so you have to ask for it. I would stick around for a few minutes after to be an extra set of hands for anything they may need and then leave. 

I would just go back to the TV OR board and see what other cases are available or coming up. The color legend is at the bottom but in general green means in the room surgery going. Yellow/tan is in pre-op ready for OR. 

ask for help

There is an anesthesia staff that serves as the floor planner for the day and manages all the cases. They will be staring at the board most often. If you get confused they can help you find a good room. 

There can be a lot of downtime between cases so I would bring some work to do/read. Keep a close eye on the board as cases will often finish and start early.

The anesthesia staff know what surgeons won’t like having a resident in so don’t take it personally if they turn you away. Overall it is very much dependent on you and your willingness to get in on cases. Everyone was very friendly and helpful.

^^Big thanks to Jenny Foti for the helpful information!