Mentor Interview- Doctor Michael McCallum
Why did you pick anesthesia?
“I was going to do emergency medicine or surgery but decided against it. I did a rotation of anesthesia in med school and it ended up being the most appealing to me because it made sense to me.”
What is your favorite part of your job?
“Probably watching patients get and do well. Its life changing to watch how they recover. When they wake up they think they wont feel good. It is the most rewarding part.”
What would you consider to be the highest and lowest point of your career?
“Hopefully I haven’t hit the highest. I guess right now thats where I’m at. I’m the chief of anesthesia and on the Colorado board. But the lowest point or moment would be the surgery of Madison Milner.”
What do you think are key traits to being a good doctor?
“Definitely have to be smart. Definitely have to be creative. And then important things are you have to understand the roles and roles of the team. The better doctors let different parts of the team do their different tasks instead of everything at once. Thats probably some of the mandatory parts. And the rest are just having some compassion. You cant just come to work do your job and go home. You have to live it. You cant just shut it off at the end.”
What advice do you have to med students coming into this field?
“I don’t know what anesthesia is going to be in 5-10 years. So my advice would be to somehow be the best person in the room, at your job. You need to have a specialty and be able to know that you can do it for a long time. Our third and fourth year of medical school is different rotations and specialties. And to a medical student you have to go with your gut, not pressure from outside forces. The reason I thought about surgery was because all of the surgeons I worked with wanted me to be one of their residents.”
Have you ever experienced complications in the field of anesthesia?
“Yeah, you experience them all the time, whether that complication is detrimental or not, it is different. I have never had a complication that I could think of that caused permanent damage. Bad things happen but those aren't complications.”
If you could start over your medical career what would you go back and do differently?
“I don’t know, Im pretty happy. I don’t think I would do anything differently. Or at least, I can't think of anything.”
Why did you pick anesthesia?
“I was going to do emergency medicine or surgery but decided against it. I did a rotation of anesthesia in med school and it ended up being the most appealing to me because it made sense to me.”
What is your favorite part of your job?
“Probably watching patients get and do well. Its life changing to watch how they recover. When they wake up they think they wont feel good. It is the most rewarding part.”
What would you consider to be the highest and lowest point of your career?
“Hopefully I haven’t hit the highest. I guess right now thats where I’m at. I’m the chief of anesthesia and on the Colorado board. But the lowest point or moment would be the surgery of Madison Milner.”
What do you think are key traits to being a good doctor?
“Definitely have to be smart. Definitely have to be creative. And then important things are you have to understand the roles and roles of the team. The better doctors let different parts of the team do their different tasks instead of everything at once. Thats probably some of the mandatory parts. And the rest are just having some compassion. You cant just come to work do your job and go home. You have to live it. You cant just shut it off at the end.”
What advice do you have to med students coming into this field?
“I don’t know what anesthesia is going to be in 5-10 years. So my advice would be to somehow be the best person in the room, at your job. You need to have a specialty and be able to know that you can do it for a long time. Our third and fourth year of medical school is different rotations and specialties. And to a medical student you have to go with your gut, not pressure from outside forces. The reason I thought about surgery was because all of the surgeons I worked with wanted me to be one of their residents.”
Have you ever experienced complications in the field of anesthesia?
“Yeah, you experience them all the time, whether that complication is detrimental or not, it is different. I have never had a complication that I could think of that caused permanent damage. Bad things happen but those aren't complications.”
If you could start over your medical career what would you go back and do differently?
“I don’t know, Im pretty happy. I don’t think I would do anything differently. Or at least, I can't think of anything.”