Showing our creative side
In this newer section of the newsletter, we are "showing our creative side" as part of our wellness program. We encourage anesthesia faculty, CRNAs, residents, anesthesia technicians, and administrative staff to submit their artwork (paintings with descriptions), music interests (with narrative and photos), photography (with comments), poetry, or small narratives (less than one page).
We know that we have an excellent team to provide the best possible anesthesia care for patients in the state of Mississippi through UMMC. Anesthesia is our profession, but we want to share your passion for bringing a little joy and improving our wellness.
We are a great team as professionals, but our passion (art, music, dance, poetry, photography, etc.) sometimes needs to be more restrained/stopped because of our busy schedules. We want to show the world what we love other than providing the best patient care. As human beings, we don't need to give up one for another; balancing our professional and personal life is very important to improve our wellness.
Please continue to send your submissions to Dr. Sara Robertson or me. We look forward to getting many submissions from each of you!
Jake Risher, MD
Anesthesiology Resident PGY-3/CA-2
I grew up turkey hunting due to my father and grandfather being die-hard turkey hunters. I have completed my Grand Slam on public land. A Grand Slam is harvesting the four major subspecies of turkey across the USA. I always appreciate people who hunt with calls they made themselves; however, making turkey calls is very challenging and meticulous. I have learned most of my skills and knowledge from Mr. Joe Slaton. He is a multiple-time Grand National turkey calling champion. I had the opportunity to do my first anesthesiology rotation in the same town where Joe lives, Stockton, California. Every day, when I got out of the OR, he and I would go to his shop and start making turkey calls. He taught me how to make tube calls, trumpet calls, box calls, and slate calls with strikers. He works a lot with African woods due to their higher density and hardness, but he also loves working with English walnut because of the grain pattern. I love how you can take a piece of wood with the right tools and a little time/effort, and you can have a piece of art with the functionality to help me fool an old gobbler in the woods.
Below are photos of some of the calls I have made. The slate calls are made of English walnut. The box call is made of snakewood. Snakewood is my favorite wood to make turkey calls with. It comes from the Piratinera guianensis tree in South America. The grain pattern of snakewood is so crazy it is hard to believe it’s not painted on. The strikers are made from an array of different woods. My favorite is the popular tree (the lighter color ones) and the solid black one that was made from the Dalbergia melanoxylon tree in Africa that is naturally this black of wood. The trumpet calls are a modern modification of a type of call Native Americans used that were originally made form the turkey wing bones themselves. Some pieces are more for keepsake, like the slate call I made and inserted a picture of my son, whom I plan to teach all about call making.
