#71 – Thrive in Training: destroying didactics with Jenny Finnell, MSN, CRNA

Jenny Finnell, MSN, CRNA joins me to talk about how anesthesia trainees can master the didactic phase of their training. We cover lots of tips in this show: everything from how to make challenging content stick to how to get organized, which apps & resources are helpful and how to maintain mental wellbeing during anesthesia training. This episode will help you dial in your plan for success in didactics. Our goal is for you to thrive and not just survive in school. The volume of information you have to master is immense and the learning curve is incredibly steep, especially when you begin to integrate clinical training into your journey. Creating early success in didactics is key to progressing in anesthesia school. There’s 3 domains of knowledge in any kind of training: the know-whatthe know-why and the know-how. The know-what is the core information, principles & facts.   The know-why is understanding the situationally-specific rationales for actions & processes. And the know-how is where we learn to put the know-what & the know-why into practice: it’s the experiential, practical application of knowledge.  The didactic portion of training is where we pick up most of the know-what.  What you need to know is learned by studying, being taught, reading, watching video & listening to lectures & podcasts.  It’s here where we also learn a lot of the know-why: the rationales behind why we do things the way we do them in anesthesia.  You’re only able to develop the art of anesthesia if you have a solid foundation in the science of anesthesia.  Learning the know-how: the actual mechanics and flow of putting everything together, the timing & art of anesthesia is learned best by doing… especially when that experiential education is under the guidance of a skilled preceptor, clinical coach or mentor.   Jenny Finnell, MSN, CRNA runs the CRNA School Prep Academy, which is a mentoring and professional coaching community designed for those who want to pursue a career as a CRNA.  Her team offers a blog, podcast and public & private forums as well as individualized coaching for every phase of preparing for anesthesia training.  She’s active on Facebook & Instagram if you want to see what the CRNA School Prep Academy is all about or you can certainly cruise over to her website at CRNAschoolprepacademy.com.  Resources: The CRNA School Prep Academy Ultimate Resource Guide: …this is Jenny Finnell’s Six-Page Free Resource Guide. In it, she lists the best podcasts, YouTube channels, apps, websites, books related to anesthesia, studying/learning, grad school interviews and professional resources. What Straight-A Students Get Wrong by Adam Grant, NYTimes Editorial Chipas, A., & McKenna, D. (2011). Stress and burnout in nurse anesthesia. AANA journal, 79(2). Vargo Anesthesia Mega App. This is an incredibly thorough app covering run downs on surgeries, pathological conditions, pharmacology and detailed weight-based guides to pediatric anesthesia. While you have to pay for this app, the cost is definitely worth what you get. Master Anesthesia app in App Store: check out the story from app creator Matthew Willis in Episode 38 of Anesthesia Guidebook. This app is FREE and growing in its scope of surgeries & medications but rolled out with a phenomenal calculator for quickly seeing max doses of multiple local anesthetics. Writing in the Sciences: FREE course on professional/scientific writing from Stanford University. Take this course to improve your professional writing.