Where do you currently practice?
I have been at LAC/USC Medical Center for about 18 years.
What are your favorite cases or anesthesia specialty?
I specialize in trauma anesthesia. I am currently the only ATLS (Advanced Trauma Life Support) certified CRNA at LAC/USC Medical Center. However, I enjoy most all types of cases.
What is the most rewarding part of being a CRNA?
Gosh, this is a tough one! I love all aspects of it; anesthesiology simply seemed to call out to me after close to 15 years as an ICU nurse. I love all aspects of anesthesia and the perioperative experience one patient at a time, from the preoperative evaluation to visiting my patients the next day.
What are your passions outside of work?
My creative outlet is wine and mead making; I specialize in Merlot and Zinfandel as they are so versatile. I know I will never learn all the secrets of the grape. My sport is traditional archery for the challenges it lends. I am also a history buff, with particular interests Viking history and culture, my heritage. I participate in historical re-enactments when time allows.
Is there any research, thesis, practice projects, missions, or other anesthesia related work you would like to share with our community?
I pursued and was awarded a doctor of educational psychology in 2016. I love education and sharing the joys of anesthesiology pretty much more than anything, so I really wanted to learn to be an effective modern educator. I also pursued and was awarded the Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator credential in 2016. I developed a cognitive task analysis guided educational protocol for instructing oral and maxillofacial surgeons how to diagnose and treat airway obstruction in their office based operator anesthetist model. This protocol is currently in trial to test its efficacy—stay tuned for further details. I am also currently working in tandem with USC’s Rossier School of Education and Viterbi School of Engineering to develop a virtual reality “game” oral and maxillofacial surgery residents can use to perfect this particular skill in a very safe environment. I built the anesthesiology education program currently used by the Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at USC and as far as I know am the only anesthesiology educator that specializes in teaching the operator anesthetist model of anesthesiology. I also developed a crisis resource management simulation program for them using the TeamSTEPPS framework, which appears to be the only one of its kind.
