Anaesthesia on Air

This podcast is part of a mini series of 3, looking at how military medicine has transferred to civilian practice and vice-versa.  Each part has been recorded as a stand alone episode so you can listen to them in any order you like.  Join the outgoing Surgeon General, Major General Tim Hodgetts, Professor and Retired Colonel, Peter Mahoney and Retired Colonel 'Jag' Jagdish as they reflect on their experiences with Dr Anna Maria Rollin.  In this episode they talk about The Process and the Process Zoo.
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This recording accompanies an Anaesthesia on Air discussion about preparing for the FRCA examination. Download and save this guided session for whenever you need a moment to relax, reflect, and regroup, whether you're preparing for an exam, or anything else.

Dr Jim Brunning, breathwork instructor and FRCA Final examiner, leads this guided relaxation. Music accompaniment provided by Somabreath. 

Dr Emma Plunkett speaks to Dr Jim Brunning and Dr Joe Pick about wellbeing in the context of preparing for and sitting the FRCA examination. Drawing on their own experiences Jim, Joe and Emma discuss the importance of relaxation, sleep, time-management, and more. They explore methods exam candidates can apply in their own preparations, anxiety and imposter syndrome, and how to take a healthy perspective.

Many of the tools they discuss apply to general wellbeing and work/life pressures, not just for exam candidates.

This discussion is accompanied by a guided relaxation audio resource, also available in your Anaesthesia on Air podcast feed, or to download at the link below. The relaxation recording, led by Jim Brunning, can be saved and used in any relevant situation.

Download the guided relaxation

Related information:

In the last of our Anaesthesia 2024 annual conference podcasts, Dr Ramai Santhirapala talks to Dr Kariem El-Boghdadly following his talk on GLP-1 receptor agonists in May 2024 at Glasgow Caledonian University. 

Kariem and Ramai discuss how GLP-1 receptor agonists affect gastric emptying and the subsequent risk of pulmonary aspiration, what anaesthetists can do about that, and what guidance we can look forward to around this area. 

They also discuss the work and achievements that led to Kariem being awarded the Dudley Buxton prize for ‘meritorious work in anaesthesia or in a science contributing to the progress of anaesthesia,' including how he got involved in research, with his advice for budding future researchers.

Additional information:

In this fascinating conversation Dr Sam Black talks to Maricarmen Climent and Jayne Hidderley about risk and how it is communicated in clinical settings.

This podcast, the fourth of a series recorded at the RCoA's 2024 Annual Conference in Glasgow, follows a keynote talk given by Maricarmen and Leila Finikarides and expands on the themes they discussed, in the context of the Montgomery judgment and associated GMC guidance, amongst other things.

We hear how risk is as much a feeling as a statistical fact, and that to make discussions of risk useful we should try to use 'natural' or meaningful frequencies, describe the absolute risk of something happening and - above all - ask patients about their own attitudes to risk. What matters to them about their forthcoming procedure and how they can best understand the implications.

[Recorded May 2024] This recording was made at the time of the culmination of the UK infected blood enquiry.

Additional information

In the third of a series of podcasts recorded at the RCoA's Anaesthesia 2024 conference in Glasgow Professor Malcolm Sim discusses his research into the science of metabolomics, and its role in the diagnosis and treatment of sepsis.

Metabolomics sits at the end of an 'omics' chain, after genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics. It can help 'pierce the cloud' of uncertainty around sepsis, leading to better diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes. 

Malcolm talks about the future of this research area and the opportunity to tailor therapies to a person's genetic or metabolic profile. He talks about how he was drawn towards anaesthesia, and what his other love - flying - has in common with the speciality. 

Further reading:

In this second of our Anaesthesia 2024 conference podcasts, recorded in Glasgow in May 2024, Drs Helgi Johannsson, Lucy Brooks, and Paul Southall discuss the latest developments in sustainable anaesthesia. 

They look at the NHS's decomissioning of desflurane, use of nitrous oxide, masks and gowns, and the importance of local leadership and advocacy in making positive, sustainable change.

Further information: 

In this first of a series of podcasts recorded at the RCoA's Anaesthesia 2024 conference in Glasgow Ms Jenny Montgomery, Consultant ENT Head & Neck Surgeon, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, discusses her work in transoral robotic surgery (TORS).

Jenny describes how TORS, only recently available to patients in Scotland, is a minimally-invasive surgery that allows access to areas of the throat that would previously have been hard to reach. This tool is especially useful in the west of Scotland, where rates of head and neck cancer are especially high, and can help limit the need for follow-up radio- or chemotherapy.

Jenny also discusses the future of robotic surgery, especially for ENT, and how her anaesthetic colleagues can think about working with robotic surgical devices for head and neck surgery.

To hear from innovative and inspirational speakers like Ms Montgomery at our 2025 annual conference in Belfast, book using the link below.

Further information:

Anaesthesia 2025 - book to attend our conference in Belfast

Dr Ramai Santhirapala, Consultant Anaesthetist at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Trust and RCoA Council member is joined by Dr Laura Askins, Senior specialist Dietician, and Dr Roopa McCrossan, Consultant Anaesthetist at James Cook University Hospital.

In this episode, we discuss civility and incivility and their effects on workplace cultures and behaviour. Ramai, Laura and Roopa discuss what happens when we encounter incivility at work, and how we can make our working environments better, safer, and happier - just by being courteous and kind.

This podcast will touch on sensitive issues including bullying and suicide. If you need help, these pages list the support available to you:

Support for individuals | The Royal College of Anaesthetists
Wellbeing support | Association of Anaesthetists

In this episode of Anaesthesia on Air Dr Sekina Bakare hosts a roundtable discussion with Dr Desire Onwochei, Dr Sethina Watson and Dr Daniel Olaiya on the work being done to grow the numbers of Black Anaesthetists, experiences within practice and ongoing challenges.

They discuss promoting equity within anaesthetics, managing microaggressions, and anti-racist best practices following the 'To Grow and Thrive' session at February Updates 2024.

This podcast contains discussion of personal and wider experiences of racism.