First Entry
I’ve never written a blog before and I’m definitely not sure if I can keep it up. I always feel like I have something to say, but just not sure if anyone cares to hear it. But I’ll try.
My friend and colleague Dr. Ed Mariano has taken to this medium and really developed an audience with his englightened thoughts and opinions. I thought I might need to take a hand at it.
I will be sharing my interests. They can be widespread so I’m not sure where this blog will go over time. I’m an Anesthesiologist at an academic medical center. I take care of patients, I teach residents, and I do some research. I’m also activity involved with the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA) with an occasional dabbling with the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) and the Society of Anesthesia and Sleep Medicine (SASM). My clinical focus is on regional anesthesia and acute pain medicine. I’m very interested in reducing the need for opioids in the Perioperative period as a means to help patients reduce their overall opioid need or possibly never get started on an opioid dependence.
I’m also very interested in social media and online media. For the last 6-7 years, I’ve been one of the instigators of pushing ASRA leaders and members to be more involved on Twitter as a means to continue academic and personal conversations year round and foster a tighter community in between our national conferences. Incidentally, in our current coronavirus lockdown, this social media community has become even more important since all in-person conferences are on hiatus. I developed a podcast for ASRA called the ASRA Regional Anesthesia and Pain Podcast (ASRA RAPP) with my co-hosts Eric Schwenk, Gary Schwartz, and Sandy Christensen. More about the social media and podcasts in future posts.
Thirdly, I’m an avid photographer. Primarily I enjoy travel, landscapes and nature photography because it is an active way for me to enjoy the world and pushes me to engage with a place more than a casual tourist. I will try to post pictures on this site periodically. I’m thinking I might discuss what it took to get a specific picture, how I shot it, and how I edited it. Not sure what people want to see. I WON’T just put up huge slide decks of photos. If you want to see large amounts of my pictures, you can visit my photography site at Raj Gupta Photography. Here’s a picture for your enjoyment:
