By Joanne Coen
Greetings from Florida!! I was happy to hear from you and to hear that the Department is doing well?
The ‘real world’ has been treating me EXTREMELY well! I gave birth to a healthy baby boy late in February. Working full-time is a vacation after six weeks of maternity leave with two kids in diapers!
Overall, I am pleased with my job. I work for a large corporation called Sheridan Health Corp. I am one of 50 or so anesthesiologists. My home base, Hollywood Medical Center, is a small, busy community hospital. We do everything except open heart.
Reimbursement for anesthesiologists in south Florida, like everywhere, has dropped significantly. Starting salaries are mediocre and the opportunities for partnership are few. However, the sun still shines nearly everyday, my job is laid back, I have lots of free time and I am where I want to be. Overall, life is treating me very well!
My only suggestion for what can be stressed more in the program is that most often the ‘real world’ has no fancy equipment, anesthesia techs or OR pharmacy. The lack of programmable pumps forced me to learn the Golden Rule of Infusions that I selectively chose to ignore during residency. Other than that minor point, I adjusted to private practice easily.
Good luck finding the best applicants for the program, send my regards to everyone in the department, and keep in touch!