finances – Anesthesia Guidebook

In this episode you’re going to hear from Shane Garner, MS, CRNA, NSPM-C on the 5 Keys for Achieving Financial Independence. This show was originally released in April of 2020 on From the Head of the Bed and I’m pulling it forward to Anesthesia Guidebook on August 30, 2021.

I’m pumped Shane brought this intel to the podcast… anesthesia providers are high income earners but it’s rare to see any formal training on financial literacy as part of core medical & nursing education or during anesthesia training programs. CRNAs & physician anesthesiologists get out and make great money but often fail to apply basic financial principals like living below your means, becoming debt free and saving & investing for the future. It sounds like boring stuff but these are some of the keys that will create freedom and peace of mind for your future. If you apply a fraction of what you’ll hear in the next 30 minutes, you’ll set yourself on a trajectory you can truly be stoked about and you’ll thank yourself down the road. You owe it to your future self to check this episode out and apply what you hear.

The 5 Keys to Financial Independence are 1. Set goals to live below your means. 2. Pay yourself first. 3. Avoid debt. 4. Invest in low cost index funds. 5. Educate yourself.

Shane Garner is a CRNA who works in Ripon, Wisconsin and is passionate about teaching anesthesia providers on personal finance as well as regional anesthesia. He has a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Minnesota and graduated from Rosalind Franklin University with his Master of Science in Nurse Anesthesia in 2012. He went on to complete a fellowship in Advanced Pain Management at the University of South Florida before becoming board certified in Nonsurgical Pain Management through the NBCRNA. Shane is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s nurse anesthesia program and regularly instructs with Twin Oaks Anesthesia & Cornerstone Anesthesia Conferences.

Shane Garner, MS, CRNA, NSPM-C

Resources

The White Coat Investor

The Bogleheads ‘ Guide to Investing (book)

The Simple Path to Wealth (book)

The Millionaire Next Door (book)

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Today I talk with Marcus House, BSN, SRNA about his decision to live in an ambulance during remote clinical rotations in anesthesia school. Marcus is currently working towards completing his Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice at Missouri State University. He holds Bachelor of Science degrees in Education and Nursing, both from Southeast Missouri State University. Marcus worked for 7 years as a high school science teacher alongside his wife, Casey, also a high school teacher, before returning to nursing school. He spent 3 years working in a CVICU prior to pursuing his doctorate degree in anesthesia. He would like you to know that he “knows when to hold ’em, AND when to fold ’em, [he] once owned a Nintendo Power Glove and [he’s] comfortable being either ‘big spoon’ or ‘little spoon’.”

In all seriousness, choosing to go mobile for your housing arrangements during graduate school or residency, depending on your clinical rotations, may make a lot of sense. As Marcus points out in the podcast, he’s saving money compared to the cost of rent while enjoying a personalized home on wheels that will be his to keep after anesthesia school. With many graduate anesthesia programs sending their SRNAs wide and far for clinical rotations, it can be extremely challenging to find affordable housing on the fly in grad school while still maintaining rent or a mortgage at a home base.

You don’t have to look far on the internet webs to find a virtual plethora of blog sites, Instagram & Pinterest feeds and YouTube channels dedicated to #vanlife for ideas & guides on build outs.

I put a few photos of Marcus’ ambulance, Bernice, below and you’ll find several more at Anesthesia Guidebook’s Instagram page. I’ll also include some photos on Instagram from a Sprinter van build that my wife and I completed after we finished anesthesia school. While we were able to get through our program in traditional housing, we’ve thoroughly enjoyed having a van for weekend to multi-week road trip adventures after grad school.

Don’t hesitate to reach out to Marcus via Facebook or email (Marcus.House1@gmail.com) (that’s Marcus-dot-house, the number one, at gmail.com) or drop a question/comment below, on Instagram or directly to me via email (jon@anesthesiaguidebook.com) if you want to talk about van life in anesthesia school in more detail.

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