My name is Maithreyi Srikanth, and I’m a second-year student in the Master of Anesthesia program in Cleveland, Ohio.
I came to the program straight after graduating from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor—Go Blue!—where I majored in Biopsychology and Evolutionary Anthropology- areas that are quite different from anesthesia, I know! But, all the classes I took prepared me well to take the MCAT and if not for that, I would have never gotten the email that offered me my future career.
Coming to Cleveland from Ann Arbor wasn’t the easiest transition to make. I was used to a college town where anything I could have wanted was within a fifteen minute walk, not a big city where things are spread apart and where it takes time to discover places to love. But, I’m happy to report that Cleveland has very much grown on me!
The restaurant scene is one of my favorite parts about this city, and my friends and I make it our mission to spend our Friday nights at a new restaurant every week, discovering new cuisines we’ve never tried before or trying our absolute hardest to find the best of a certain type of food in the area (Banana Blossom has the best Thai food, if you’re interested—trust me and order the drunken noodles). The class sizes are small so we all spend the majority of our time together in our first year, and I’m always in awe of how much my classmates support and encourage one another through tough classes and trying clinical days. The friends that I’ve made through class are hands down the very best part of this program and I know that they will be in my life for a very long time.
Currently, I’m in the middle of my trauma rotation at MetroHealth Hospital here in Cleveland. My very first clinical day was at this same hospital last June, and I’m really proud to look back upon my first year and realize how much I’ve grown and learned in such a short span of time. I vividly remember fumbling around with the simplest tasks in the operating room that first day. Today, I ran all of my cases on my own with minimal input from my instructor.
The best advice I can give to future students is to study hard, brush off the bad OR days—they happen to everyone!—and learn from them. And treat yourself to some Mitchell’s ice cream whenever you want.
About this post: The Student Spotlight series highlights MSA students in Cleveland, Houston, and Washington. The series is a student-led initiative, and is designed to share current student experiences with prospective students.