Category: Alumni at Work, Alumni Stories, Community Health, Health Magazine

Title:What’s in my white coat? with Ebou Cham (G’14)

Author: Interview by Jane Varner Malhotra
Date Published: June 1, 2022
Credits: Nate Gowdy

Georgetown nurse anesthesia alumnus Ebou Cham (G’14) is the interim chief certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA) at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

The busy hospital is a Level 1 trauma center serving all of Washington state, Alaska, Wyoming, Idaho, and Western Montana, approximately a quarter of the landmass of the United States.

Cham’s work is part administrative, part clinical. He wears scrubs to be ready on any given day to pitch in as needed in the operating room. While he usually chooses not to wear the formal white coat, he shared what he carries with him on a typical day below.

1. I received this pen as a gift from the previous Chief CRNA when I stepped up to the role two years ago.

2. I need my iPhone with me because I call into virtual meetings throughout the day, and depend on reliable connectivity throughout the large hospital.

3. My earbuds are critical for meetings on the go!

4. I like to keep a little notebook with me to jot things down so I don’t forget.

5. Yes, it’s a fishing equipment container! My team finds the tackle box is a perfect way to organize all the necessities for clinical days when we pick up patients from the ICU. It has emergency intubation equipment including a laryngoscope (6), endotracheal tubes of different sizes (7), and medications for intubation for blood pressure control, pain, and sedation (8).

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