Anesthesiology

Abstract

Dr. R. is a 30-year-old, recently married senior resident in anesthesiology. He was dressed in the uniform of the day: blue scrub suit, white lab coat, stethoscope draped around his neck, pager clipped to the pocket of his coat, and well-worn Nikes. He is tall, slender, and Nordic-looking. Uncharacteristically, he appeared 10 minutes early for his interview, breezing into my outer office just as I was getting off the phone there. This took him by surprise, as he was eating an ice-cream popsicle (his lunch). He explained that he had expected to sit quietly for 10 minutes and enjoy his ice cream. Although I invited him to bring it into the office with him, he insisted on dumping it into the wastebasket so that it would not interfere with the interview. He is soft-spoken but articulates clearly and to the point. There was no evasiveness around sensitive issues and no effort to rush through the interview despite his hectic schedule.