The inspiring skillset of a combined cardiac anesthesiologist + ICU physician

as a nurse who's worked with him, he is such a gift to the hospital and a wonderful doctor!!

That was a well-done interview, Max. Having formerly been a health care practitioner, I think he had two golden pieces of advice for students: 1) go spend lots of time with people who do the thing you're interested in, and 2) make sure you really understand what it's like to do the thing as opposed to just the intellectual aspects of that endeavor, which is also probably solved with number 1.

As a guy in Stage 3 kidney disease, that floating salt cracked me UP a LOT - shows you have a great sense of humor!! Excellent video!

One of the challenging experiences I had as an apheresis nurse was having to do a plasma exchange through a cardiac bypass machine in the OR. Complicated case. The child was 10 years old and had undergone a heart transplant but the heart was rejected. Believe it or not, there was a second heart that was flown in and wasn’t rejected. The plasma exchange was done to get rid of the complement protein in her blood which had accumulated during the first transplant. So I continued the apheresis through the bypass machine during the 2nd transplant. And 7 days later this precious little girl was up walking around looking like she’d never had any major surgery let alone 2 heart transplants in one day! It was a scary experience for me never having done the exchange through a bypass machine, but everyone was so helpful. One of the craziest things I saw after the surgery was over, as I was leaving the hospital so many hours later, the cardiac surgeon was outside the ER smoking a cigarette! I guess he deserved it. Wonderful man who taught in the USA and went to Europe to teach other doctors interested in doing pediatric cardiac surgery.

His advice is spot on at the very end. If you don't like the day to day realities of the job then it's not a good fit for you. I like the idea of computer programming but I could never imagine sitting at a computer all day every day. I much prefer my time in the hospital on my feet all day, interacting with others.

Its interesting that these are two split specialties in the USA. In France, Anesthesiologists can work in the ICU and in the OR without additional training (Although a new ICU only specialty has been added recently). Always cool to see how systems differ. I'd love to see a video on a CRNA on your channel one day! Great stuff as always Max

That was awesome, I learned so much! I really enjoy donating to the anesthesiologist Foundation, since it was hard for me to go to college because of my cerebral palsy, I really wanted to be a anesthesiologist physician, it takes a special person to be a anesthesiologist or CRNA and y’all are one of them! Anesthesiologist is the best

Max, these videos are so insightful! Please don't ever stop doing them! Bottom line, please don't stop being you!

Knowing someone who ended up in the ICU with a life threatening infection following a minor back surgery and almost died but amazingly recovered after being in an induced coma and having quadruple amputations after her limbs died as a result of the infection it’s a really hard job that ICU workers have but I’m sure that the successes make it all worth it or at least more bearable for them, kudos to anyone who works in that environment and thanks for this informative video!

I am amazed by this doctor's intensive training and would hope more anesthesiologists go down this route. He treats the whole patient from surgery to the ICU!! If I ever have to have an extended surgery, I plan to investigate the anesthesiologist as to his/her extensive training! Kudos to this doctor for his dedication to patient health!!

Great video for aspiring anesthesiologists

Some great advice there that can be applicable to many careers outside medicine also. Great interview 👏

Great interview.. It seems the heart/lung machine requires intense skill to operate and having a team that is prepared for every scenario represents the best of the best.

That last advice was GOLDEN - day to day vs the idea/intelectual content of the specialty... thank you!

Great advises at the end. Worth listening to.

@Max Feinstein, if you ever have the chance interview Dr. Rishi Kumar. He’s also a Cadiac anesthesiologist/intensivist in Houston, TX. The man is nothing short of brilliant!

My childhood doctor graduated from Creighton University's med school in the 1920's. He was the sort of "physician and surgeon" still practicing in some small towns. These doctors were not exposed to most of what modern med students study nowadays. Anesthesiology, for instance, consisted in the doctor or his assistant sloshing ether on a wad of cotton waste and forcing the patient to breathe it. I still shudder remembering having my tonsils, adenoids, and uvula harvested this way in the 1930s. I believe that until the 1960s the major electronic aids doctors tolerated were the EKG machine and the x-ray. Nowadays, just recognizing what an OR's array of electronics do seems like a field of study in itself, and acquiring the medical knowledge that inspired their creation seems too much for a person to master in the time allotted.

I did 21 days in the cardiac icu in Doylestown hospital in Doylestown Pa, had 3 cath lab procedures done and then open heart surgery

Thank you for asking about his Fear response and how he critically thinks! That's something i ask other docs and CRNAs frequently for CRNA school.

Excellent informative interview with a very personable physician.