As a DO at a newer school, I didn’t have a home Anesthesia program or any robust in house mentorship/advising for the specialty. It was a grind for every shadowing opp, LOR, and interview. In this article, I’ll dive into how I navigated the process and things I’d do differently if I had to do it all over again.
“You’re with anesthesia today“
That sentence hit me like a truck during my first sub-internship.
No home program. Minimal prior OR experience. Just me, my short white coat, and the growing anxiety that I was about to be exposed for my lack of preparedness.
It took a grind to even get there—cold emails for shadowing, finding out who could be a mentor for a research idea I had, and figuring out how what information to even learn so that I show up on day 1 and completely embarrass myself. But there I was, standing in a new hospital, in a new city, expected to “know my stuff”… I realized how little my med school had prepared me for this moment.
No one teaches you how to be good at a Sub-I. Especially not in Anesthesiology, where you’re expected to hit the ground running despite zero formal exposure to many of the technical skills, pharmacologic nuances, and robust pre-op assessments.
It is an overwhelming amount of information that was pretty hard to find and aggregate before or during my away, so I learned what I could along the way and did what any one would: the best I could.
After multiple away rotations and ultimately a successful match cycle, I was happy to have put the stressful experience behind me. Now, as I reflect on my journey while advising mentees, I’ve done a bit of reflection and can confidently say that in hindsight, :
What helped me stand out—and ultimately match—wasn’t some secret connection or research paper. It was crushing my aways.
Knowing how to present a patient in pre-op. Walking through an anesthetic plan like I’d done it 100 times before. Answering those OR pimp questions with confidence—not guesses. And showing up as someone that residents wanted on their team.
This is what got people to vouch for me, get me more interviews, and ultimately, helped me land my number one.
The Problem? Med School Doesn’t Teach This.
The gap between classroom knowledge and clinical expectations is wide—especially in anesthesia.
Most students barely get exposure to the OR before being expected to perform in one. You’re thrown into complex, fast-paced environments where you’re evaluated on knowledge and skills you never actually learned.
We knew there had to be a better way to prep than trying to string together advice from a bunch of different Reddit threads and old textbooks. So we built the thing we wished we had: a self paced, high yield, consolidated learning resource – AKA the Anesthesia Sub-Internship Bootcamp.
We had to—for ourselves, and for students like us. Students without a home program or easy access to quality mentorship and information.
So, What’s In The Bootcamp?
The Anesthesia Sub-I Bootcamp is a self-paced course created by anesthesia residents who’ve been in your shoes—and are now on the other side evaluating students just like you.
It’s built to get you ready to walk into your first Sub-I with confidence and competence.
Here’s what you’ll get:
✅ Case-based learning built from real OR scenarios you’ll actually encounter
✅ High-yield pharmacology review that focuses on the meds you’ll be expected to know during induction, maintenance, and emergence
- ✅ Pocket pimp guide with 50+ classic questions that you will encounter over the course of your rotation
✅ OR setup walkthroughs and airway management pearls that help you impress on day one
✅ Expert tips for working with residents & CRNAs, presenting cases to attending’s, and answering pimp questions without freezing
✅ Tactical advice on how to stand out on service and leave a lasting impression
Best part? The whole thing can be completed in a single day and you get 6 months access for just $49.
This Rotation Matters More Than You Think.
If you’re a med student applying to anesthesia, your Sub-I isn’t just a learning opportunity—it’s an audition.
You’ll be evaluated not just on what you know, but on how you fit in with the team. How teachable you are. How well you prepared.
We’ve seen students go from totally overwhelmed to confident contributors with this course. And more importantly—we’ve seen those same students match using the exact knowledge we’ve compiled. If you’re stepping into your first anesthesia Sub-I soon, this is your shot to get ahead of the curve and make the most of it. It is truly the resource I wish I had when I was nervous during my first sub-internship and would have saved me a ton of hours (and cortisol).
Show up with more knowledge than a junior anesthesia resident from Day 1.
Get instant access to the Bootcamp now, prep on your own time, and show up day one with resident-level knowledge.
Because the truth is: no one’s going to teach you this stuff unless you teach it to yourself.
