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Awakened Anesthetist
This podcast is for Certified Anesthesiologist Assistants, AA students, and anyone hoping to become one. As a CAA, I know how difficult it can be to find guidance that truly reflects our unique perspective. I created Awakened Anesthetist to be the supportive community of CAAs I needed on my own journey.
Every month, I feature CAA expanders in what I call my PROCESS interview series. I also create solo episodes that weave in themes of wellness, self-discovery, and mindful growth - offering insights and reflections that resonate with our high-pressure, high-responsibility lives. Through it all, you’ll discover the power you hold as a CAA to create a life by design, not by default. I know you’ll find yourself here at the Awakened Anesthetist podcast.
Awakened Anesthetist
Pre-AA to CAA [PROCESS] Part 3. Britton's Dream Acceptance, White Coat and Classes Begin
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This new take on the PROCESS series is at the core of what I love to share, the messy middle. What if you could witness the making of a Certified Anesthesiologist Assistant in real time, not as a polished highlight reel, but as it is actually unfolding? In all things, I care far less about the end result and far more about who you are in the becoming.
This Pre-AA to CAA PROCESS series follows Britton Robinson as her journey unfolds from 2024 through 2028, an ongoing conversation that captures the growth, the pivots, the waiting, and the wins along the way. It is about honoring growth as it happens and having the courage to tell your story before you know how it will end. This is the Pre-AA to CAA [PROCESS] of Britton Robinson.
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Welcome to the Awakened Anesthetist Podcast, the first podcast to highlight the CAA experience. I'm your host, Mary Jean, and I've been a certified anesthesiologist assistant for close to two decades. Throughout my journey and struggles, I've searched for guidance that includes my unique perspective as a CAA. At one of my lowest points, I decided to turn my passion for storytelling and my belief that the CAA profession is uniquely able to create a life by design into a podcast. If you are a practicing CAA, current AA student, or someone who hopes to be one, I encourage you to stick around and experience the power of being in a community filled with voices who sound like yours, sharing experiences you never believed possible. I know you will find yourself here at the Awakened Anesthetist Podcast. Welcome in. Welcome back to the Awakened Anesthetist Podcast, where we expand our understanding of what's possible within the CAA profession. I'm your host, Mary Jean, a longtime practicing certified anesthesiologist assistant, an AA educator, and now a doctoral student focused on researching the art of anesthesia. This series is a slightly different perspective on our normal process episodes because it's really created for the ever-increasing number of pre-anesthesiologist assistants who are here and have found the Awakened Anesthes podcast because they're searching for insight and some understanding of what their future will hold. And by the way, if that's you, I'm really glad you're here. This process series is a long form passion project that I started in 2024, where I highlight the journey of one pre-anesthesiologist assistant as she applies, interviews, is accepted, and becomes a practicing CAA. This series was created with future CAAs in mind so you can hear what this season actually feels like while you're in it too. And for those of us who are further along, it's an invitation to remember, to reconnect with that vulnerable stretch of time, wanting something deeply, but not yet knowing if it's going to happen, not yet knowing what school will hold, or if your CAA dreams will come true. This is the process of Britton Robinson from pre-AA to practicing CAA. Let's dive in and see where she is on her journey to become a practicing certified anesthesiologist assistant.
SPEAKER_01Today is December 23rd, 2024, and I just got an email in my inbox that I got an interview opportunity at Nova Tampa. So I am so so so excited about that. I was really getting worried since it's already almost the end of December. Um, and a lot of people have already heard back. So I was definitely getting nervous, but I'm so thankful that I get to interview next month, and I just really hope that it goes well, and so thankful for the opportunity. Okay, so right now it is the night before my Nova Tampa interview. I'm super excited. Um, a little bit nervous, but not nearly as nervous as I was for my interviews at VCom in South because I didn't know as much what to expect. But now I feel like I know what to expect because I've done it before. The stakes for me are a little bit higher just because this is like my dream program. But I'm feeling pretty good. I'm reviewing a quizlet that I made of my potential like interview questions that I had just been practicing. So I'm gonna look over that for a little bit and then I'm just gonna watch a little bit of Netflix to unwind and keep the nerves at bay. But yeah, I'm super excited. I just finished my interview at Nova, Tampa. I'm now heading to go hang out with a friend in Tampa, so I'm really excited about that. Um today is January 10th, 2025. Um, it definitely went pretty well. Um, it was definitely scary just knowing that this was my top school. This is my top school. So I I definitely had some pressure on myself, but knowing that I had already done the interview process and gotten into two other schools definitely eased my nerves a little bit. I definitely feel good leaving it. Um and now it's just a little bit of a waiting game, and I am just really hoping that I get in because I loved this school. I have loved the school, and I just really loved it today. Today is Friday, January 17th, and I just got the phone call that I have been accepted to Nova Southeastern at the Tampa Bay location. I'm so excited. This is literally my number one choice. I've wanted to go here for as long as I've known about AA, and it's just so relieving to see that all of my hard work has paid off. Um, so yeah, I'm gonna be accepting, I'm gonna be going there, and could not be more excited. Hi, my name is Britton Robinson. Today is January 31st, 2026. Still getting used to saying 2026. Um, and I have just started my third semester at Nova Tampa as an AA student. And I just keep reminding myself like how lucky I am to be at the school that I wanted to be in so badly.
SPEAKER_02I'm so proud of you. Congratulations. Congratulations. Okay, so you got in on January 15th, 2025, and then you were still an undergrad at this time. So you finished undergrad. Um, talk to me a little bit about like what you did to bridge that time and then when Nova Tampa started.
SPEAKER_01So there was basically no time between the time that I graduated undergrad. I graduated on May 3rd, and then I started at Nova Tampa on May 20th. That was my white coat ceremony. So I had about two weeks off in between, and that consisted of me moving to a different city. I went on like a little trip, weekend trip with my mom during that time, and then spent a lot of time trying to memorize my drug sheet because we had a quiz on that on day one. Uh-huh. So was day one white coat? No, so white coat was on the 20th, and that was like orientation and white coat ceremony. And then that week is considered like reading week, and that's when they give us some like textbook pages to read up on and stuff like that. And that's also when I studied um during that week. And then we had our first class on May 27th. Today is May 26, 2025, and it's the night before my first official day of AA school. Um, we have our first day of real class tomorrow. Um and I'm really nervous, but also excited to finally start this process that I've been praying for for so long. Um, I'm definitely expecting it to be very difficult. I know my undergrad studies were hard, everyone's are to go into AA school, but I think this is gonna be a whole nother level. And it's definitely gonna take some adjustment figuring out how I'm going to study for this level of schooling. Um, so I really just hope that I get my groove of studying down and just overall really do well in the program. Super nervous, but overall excited. Okay, it's May 30th, 2025, and I have just officially finished my first week of AA school. Today I literally had class starting at 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Um, this is how my Fridays are gonna be from now on. I have four classes that are each two hours on Fridays, so that's gonna be a huge adjustment, especially because our exams are gonna be on Wednesdays, so we're gonna learn the material on Friday and then have an exam on Wednesday. So that's gonna be a lot. Um, but I'm sure I'll be able to figure it out. It's definitely just a lot of material, and it's not like you can easily sort through and be like, oh, this isn't important, like I don't need to know this because almost everything is important. Um, but it is nice to like learn material that actually matters for the career that I'm going into. So definitely a good first week. I have my work cut out for me, but I'm excited to take it on.
SPEAKER_02So why don't you talk to me about how prepared you felt? Because I think there's a lot of fear in the pre-AA community about, of course, the entire process, but then you finally get the acceptance into the school, and now everyone's told you it's so it's horrible. It's so overwhelming. It's uh, you know, it's the worst time of your life, you're gonna be so stressed out. And how do you mentally prepare for that? And how did it actually feel? I would love to know.
SPEAKER_01I definitely was pretty scared going into it, but I did have that experience of being an anesthesia tech for four years. So I was thinking, oh, that'll definitely help me with the program. Not really. I think all of us end up actually coming in on a pretty evil, like even um playing field. We have nurses in our class, and obviously they have a little bit more knowledge from being practicing nurses. We even have a pharmacist in our class, so she probably had a leg up with farm. But I would say that generally everyone who comes in has a different background and different experience, and we all end up at a pretty level playing field pretty quickly.
SPEAKER_02And what do you think levels the playing field? Is it just such a niche, a niche experience that nothing else can really properly prepare?
SPEAKER_01I would say that the content is just so niche that not nothing you do beforehand to study for it is gonna help you. And also, like even if you were to read books on anesthesia beforehand, it's I don't think that that would truly help you to prepare for school. Maybe like some light reading, but don't worry about studying textbooks and stuff because you're just gonna read it and be like, what in the world is this talking about? And it doesn't all come together until you're in class talking to professors in lab, and that's when things really come together.
SPEAKER_00Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_02How is Nova Tampa structured in terms of clinical for people who are listening, which is when um Britain would be in the operating room learning anesthesia from a preceptor, and then didactic, which is when you're sitting in a classroom learning anesthesia, and then sim labs also can consider didactic.
SPEAKER_01Yes. So Nova Tampa, it's four semesters of didactic. So first semester, it's purely just in the classroom, no clinicals, and you also have lab that semester. Lab first semester isn't so much um involved with Mediman, which is like our guy who is a little patient for us, and his eyes open, his heart beats, he's crazy, he's really high tech, but we have less involvement with him first semester because we're figuring out the basics like spiking an IV bag, how to do your tabletop setup, the foundational skills before we hit the ball or hit the ground running with um taking care of him. So second semester, again, just all in the classroom, no clinic yet. Um, but we're doing a lot more involvement with Mediman. So by the end of the semester, we're able to put him to sleep, do maintenance, and wake him up and handle like an ASA two or three patient, which is a relatively healthy patient for people who aren't familiar with ASA status. And then semester three, which is the semester that I just started right now, um, we start in clinicals. So I'm going to clinic about twice a week. Sometimes I have a Friday off. So I'll get there around like 5:15, 5:30 a.m. And then I'm there until about 2:30, and then I go to class after that. So on the days that I don't have clinic, I still have class, but class isn't until 3 or 3:30 to allow for other people's clinical rotation schedule.
SPEAKER_02And then study during that time, I assume, or what? Oh yeah. Oh, yeah. Okay. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I'm always studying. It's pretty much from sunrise to sundown and then past, I know, it's it's more than that, honestly. I'm waking up before the sun. I wake up at five most days now and start studying after I'm done getting ready. And then I don't finish studying until like 6 or 7 p.m. when it's just time for me to go to bed, basically. Like a little grandma going to bed at 7, 8 p.m. now, but that's my life. Um, and then next semester it'll be the same thing where it's clinic um once to twice a week, most of the time twice a week, and then class in the afternoons. And then fifth semester is when you start your 12 months of purely clinicals going around the country. So it's definitely worth it. But when people say that it's full of sacrifices, I have found that to be very true. Oftentimes all of classes on Saturdays and Sundays. Um, my applied physiology will be at 8 a.m. on a Saturday and last for three hours. That happens a good bit. Um, but at this point I'm just kind of prepared for it and realize that I don't have the weekends anymore, but I'm about to have lots of time off whenever I'm working and get some PTO. So it's definitely gonna be worth it in the end.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Has there been a moment where you're like, oh, this was not for me? Like I'm I'm not sure I want to do this. Has that ever, that thought ever crossed your mind?
SPEAKER_01Uh definitely. I have had like moments where I have um, what's what's the word for it when you're like, I'm not supposed to be here? Like imposter syndrome? Yes, yes, imposter syndrome. I just blinked for a moment. Um, I have definitely struggled with some imposter syndrome and it kind of comes in waves. Um, I've definitely had moments where it's really hitting me where I'm thinking, how am I gonna be able to do this? I'm not cut out for this. There's so much that goes into the knowledge of being an AA. There's so much that goes into taking care of patients and pharmacodynamics and how drugs work together. It's just a lot. And so I've had moments where I'm like, how am I gonna remember all this and apply it? But then I'll have weeks where I'm like, you know what, I'm doing really good. Like, I'm gonna be a great AA. So it just kind of depends on what week you ask me, but I've definitely dealt with that. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Talk to me about your first day in clinicals.
SPEAKER_01I thought I would just check in today because I am on my way for orientation for clinicals. Um, I'm in my third semester of AA school, and at NOVA, this is when you start your first year clinicals, which is where you're going to a local clo hospital and doing clinic for like eight to nine hours-ish, sometimes seven, um, before you go to class in the evenings. So it's 6 a.m. I'm on my way to the hospital for orientation, and I'm very nervous, but also so excited to be putting what I'm learning in the classroom to an actual patient, like applying the information that I've just been learning out of a textbook so far, and using a real patient. Taking care of a real patient is very different from taking care of our plastic rubber Mediman. It's as close as you can get, not having a real human, but it's just different. So I'm really excited to take care of people's loved ones, and just pushes me to study even harder. Today is January 23rd, 2026, and I just finished up my second shift of this week in clinicals, so it's officially the end of my first week of my clinical rotations. Um, I would say it went well. It's just a little intimidating, like everything seems a lot quicker than how we practice, and you very much have to like think on the spot and be quick, and you can know the information, but it's a whole other thing to have to apply it um to real life. So it was definitely just like difficult getting a hold of things and like moving the patient onto the bed, getting all the monitors set up, not forgetting any steps. Um, but I'm confident that it'll just slowly improve with time. Um, that's what everybody says is the case. So I'm excited to just become a better provider and really get the hang of things more and be able to apply what I'm learning in the classroom. First day definitely had me sweating like crazy. I was so nervous because now it's not just some plastic machine in front of you. It is a real human. It's somebody's mom, somebody's dad, somebody's child. And that's a really scary thought. So it definitely was like, whoa, I'm like just a little 16-year-old girl still in my brain, and here I am behind the drapes taking care of this patient. So it was definitely a huge like reality check for me. But I learned so much. And already by the second day going back to clinical, I felt so much more comfortable. Third day, even more comfortable. So we're slowly getting there.
SPEAKER_02And what are you expected to do your first day? Is it like shadow and watch, or it's like anything you can?
SPEAKER_01It depends. It kind of depends on the facility that you're rotating at because I know I have classmates who right now are only allowed to do like eyes only, like they're only allowed to look and not touch anything. Um, but my experience at my hospital, it's kind of been my preceptors asking, what are you comfortable with and asking me questions, gauging my knowledge because the more that they trust me, the more that they're gonna let me do.
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_01Um, but on day one, Jen had me intubating, like trying to set up the monitors, which was way more difficult than I thought it was gonna be, like just looking up the patient. I'm like, everything to me is new. Um, and like pushing drugs, and by my second day, I was charting. Um, so it kind of depends on your facility, but you can basically do everything that an AA is licensed to do at that hospital, obviously under the supervision of your preceptor.
SPEAKER_00Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and just for people who are listening, um I just want to add a little bit of clarity that what Britain's describing is very particular to the Nova Tampa sequence of exposure. And what Britain's kind of talking about is like your school is associated with certain hospitals, and there's then preceptors at that hospital, and they know, okay, a Nova Tampa student at this point in their career can do this, and this is kind of what they're able to do, and this is how we step them up into clinics. And so it is very important as a uh prospective student to get have the understanding of what type of school you're going to. How do they mix didactis and clinical? How many hospitals are affiliated with huge Nova Tampa? Like, is there a lot of opportunity for you to go different places? Right. I don't know. Did you know any of that going into or tell me about your experience?
SPEAKER_01And that was a huge draw for me too, going to Tampa because I know a lot of other schools, they put you into clinicals very quickly. And I really love the structure that Nova specifically has with clinicals. And also I feel very lucky to go to Nova Tampa, where we have, I think, five, six, or seven different hospitals that we all go to that are all within an hour of campus. Because I know some other schools you have to travel to another city even to do your first year rotations. Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_02And this is all like maybe you don't expect as a pre-AA to have to understand the level of what you're getting into, but it really matters. Like it really makes a difference. And so it's just um, yeah, it really helps to understand this, but so much of understanding it is knowing the questions, like having this conversation we're having right now, Brittany. Talk to me about how many people are in your class. Do you guys study together? Is it competitive? Talk to me as much as you can and want to about it.
SPEAKER_01Okay. So I would say it's definitely not competitive. We're very lucky where it's not anything where only a certain amount of people get to pass. I know sometimes law schools do that or something. I'm not super familiar with it, but we're not at all competitive. We all share resources. Um, we started with 37 and unfortunately are down to 35 just because the course load is very difficult and challenging to keep up with, but I would say we're all very close. Um, we go to conferences together and we go out to dinner at those conferences because those are like the only time we have off of school. And before the semester starts, we usually get together and go out to a restaurant or a bar and all hang out. I would say we've all gotten very close, which is super lucky. And we all love to share how we're studying for things, um, studying resources. So I feel very lucky to have such a close class.
SPEAKER_02Yes. What are the primary study resources? Are you guys making Anki cards together? Like, what are you doing? Oh, yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So Anki is my number one lover. Yes. No, you're good. You're good. I love Anki. Um, for those of you who like aren't familiar, it's kind of similar to Quizlet, but it's spaced repetition. So if you see a card and you hit one on it, you'll see it in the next like one minute. Versus if you hit like four on it, you might see it in two. Days because you feel really good about it. But that is my number one study habit. I do Anki every day for a few hours. It's very time consuming, but that's how I get information in my head. And something Nova Tampa does is we have like pre-made cards from the students above us that they share with us. So it's really nice because I don't have to spend a lot of time making cards because I'm somebody who doesn't really learn from making quizlets or Anki, but I do know some people really benefit from the act of like actually making it to help retain the information. That is really cool. I even have a little Anki remote. Oh little bedarning thing. So I'll go on the treadmill in the mornings because I think it's very important to get exercise and like movement and being in the program. And I'll have my little Anki remote and I'll just like press the buttons to go to the next card, and then it keeps me hands free, and I get to get some movement in the mornings. So that's something I really like to do. Talk to us about just like a typical day with timestamps. So most of the time now I'll be waking up between like five and six, maybe even six thirty if I feel like sleeping in, going crazy. Um, and then I'll typically wake up and um obviously I wake up and get ready for the day. Um, and then I'll put on some exercise clothes and head to my apartment gym, and I'll either do like a full-on workout, or most of the time I'll just go on a walk. Um, or if my dog's here with me, I'll go on a walk outside with her. But I do flashcards during my walk, and then I'll come back, pack my lunch, go to school. And then I usually study at school all day. I study best at school. I'm not really an at-home studier. Sometimes I'll do it, but most of the time I'm studying at school. So I'll usually get there around nine or 10, and then I'll have class at three after I've spent a few hours studying, and then I'll go home after class and study some more at home until I go to bed around 7:30 to 8. It's a really exciting life I live right now.
SPEAKER_02Talk to me then also about a clinical day, which you are now doing.
SPEAKER_01Okay. So on clinic days, I wake up at 4 a.m. Uh huh. It's fun. Sure. Um, get my bag all packed together and leave around like 4:30, 4:45 for the hospital because it takes me about 30 minutes to get there. And you always want to be there before your preceptor. And I like to not be stressed, have plenty of time to research my patient, um, put together my syringes, put together my tabletop airway setup. Um, so I typically get there around 5:15 and research my patient, get everything set up, take some notes on what I think is important from my patient's history. Um, and then we'll just go through a few cases in the day. We'll pre-op the patients, take them back, go through induction, maintenance, emergence, repeat. And then I um end up leaving around 2:30 or 3, depending on the day from the hospital, and go straight to class. And then I'll have class for a couple hours and then I'll go home and I'll study until bedtime.
SPEAKER_02So much uh so much fun you're having. I like that. I'm having so much fun.
SPEAKER_01It's so much fun. I had a lot more free time before this semester, but now that we're in clinic, yeah, and my sleep schedule is like, okay, I go to bed at 7:30, 8 o'clock, and then I wake up at five. That leaves me dead tired by like 5 p.m. Um, so I have much less free time this semester, but I still have had time to like do some hobbies and like take care of myself still. And I'd still do it all over again. Um, it sounds kind of miserable when I talk about my day and how all I do is study, but it is really comforting to know that everybody in my glasses in the same boat. Yeah. And um if I'm feeling a certain way, I know that my classmates are feeling the exact same way, which just gives me a good peace of mind to know.
SPEAKER_02All right. Well, I feel like we are all caught up. So uh you are about to go into your third semester more fully, and then when should we talk next? Thanks for listening to Awakened Anesthetist. If this episode resonated with you, share it with a CAA friend, an AA student in your life, or a perspective and let them know why you loved it. It's the most important thing you can do to support this podcast and its mission. You can always find more ways to connect with me and this CAA community at awakenedanesthetist.com. And while you're scrolling the website, check out my trusted CAA partners who make this podcast possible with a special thank you to my season five sponsor, Harmony Anesthesia Staffing. Talk soon.
