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Dr.
McMullen and Dr. Collins are
proud to offer their
professional services to
selected surgeons. It is
relatively unusual for a
physician to provide one-on-one
anesthesia in the office setting
- a level of care typically
found in the most prestigious
plastic surgery centers in New
York or Los Angeles.
Throughout the United States, a
vast majority of office based
anesthesia is provided by a
nurse anesthetist (CRNA).
Frankly, local legislation had
lagged behind the national trend
toward office-based surgery;
however, many states have
clarified existing laws that
a nurse anesthatist must be
supervised by a physician.
This is a major step toward
ensuring patient safety in the
operating room, but there is
still a drawback to this
practice in the office setting
since the supervising physician
is a surgeon who has limited
experience in advanced airway
management techniques, or the
pharmaco-physiology that is
unique to the practice of
anesthesiology.
As
a patient, you should insist
that the standard of care at an
office surgical suite is
identical to that of a hospital
or surgical center where all
nurse anesthetists work under
the scrutiny of a physician
anesthesiologist. I recommend
this link for informative
questions and answers
regarding office based
anesthesia. This information is
provided by the
American Society
of Anesthesiology which
is celebrating its 100th
year dedicated to
patient safety.
After all, you choose your
surgeon very carefully, so why
wouldn’t you give due diligence
to the other physician in the
operating room, your
anesthesiologist.
As
a perioperative physician,
Dr. McMullen
(Curriculum
Vitae) completed
four years of medical school at
Tulane Medical Center in New
Orleans, and four years of
anesthesiology residency at the
world renowned Yale Medical
Center in Connecticut. He is a
diplomate of the American Board
of Anesthesiology, and practiced
for five years in upstate New
York personally administering
anesthesia for open heart
surgery, brain surgery, major
trauma, and reconstructive
plastic surgery among other
specialties. With this wealth of
clinical experience, he moved
back to Connecticut where he
became medical director of the
Shoreline Surgical Center which
catered to many plastic surgeons
who worked on the "gold coast"
of Connecticut and in Manhattan.
Aesthetic Anesthesia is the
culmination of Ivy League
training, vast clinical
experience, and a natural
compassion for patients.
Outpatient anesthesia is the
sole focus of Dr. McMullen’s
practice, and he continues to
enjoy an impeccable safety
record after personally
administering thousands of
anesthetics.
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