Congrads on your Match!

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Congrats to all. I have been very happy with my chosen field. I think most are. Pay off debt asap and don't overspend when you are done and you will be fine. Although I am not particularly happy with trends in medicine, it has more to do with the field of medicine and is not specific to the field of anesthesiology. All specialties are affected (or will be) in one way or another.
The people who are most unhappy are the ones who felt the pinch of decreasing reimbursements at the same time their lifestyle demands (mortgage, hobbies, cars, private schools for the kids, etc) did not allow them a comfortable transition to a new salary. The only way to keep up with the old salary is to dramatically increase the workload or work off the backs of others. So we have seen some private groups get pretty cut throat. We have seen an adjustment to a new norm. New grads will likely do fine if they keep their budgets in line with the new norm.
There are struggles that will occur, but the job itself is mostly a fun, challenging, and rewarding experience.

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Thanks! As an EM resident switching into anesthesia, I'm sure a lot of you guys would tell me I'm nuts -- but I'm excited to join the better side of the drapes. And drink lots of scotch...

See Anesthesia is way better than EM.
 
Congratulations to everyone who matched and enjoy Match Day tomorrow! It's entertaining to read the back and forth on SDN, and for what it is worth, I think the decision to go to med school at all and to choose a specialty is most satisfying when it is well-informed. If you make your decision with inaccurate or incomplete information, you might not make it all the way through training and that is an unfortunate situation for all involved. If these forums are enough to turn anyone off, then it is a good thing because they didn't find out for themselves firsthand what the field is all about. The negativity is useful, like organic chemistry, for helping undergrads realize that becoming and then being a physician is really hard and is not their cup of tea after all. They get weeded out, but go on to some other type of work that is more suitable for their interests. Isn't that a good thing in the end?

I hope that everyone who matches in anesthesiology knows what they are signing up for because if you come in with a rough approximation of what you are signing up for, you are going to have a great time. Will the whole world come crashing down in flames tomorrow? Maybe. But if it doesn't, I will be in an ortho room, keeping my patients alive while some med-jock hacks at their bones. It's going to be a great day!
 
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Cool! Just remember that when the surgeon shouts "anesthesia - table up!" for the thousandth time, or some scrub tech ignores you because you're not the surgeon, or a patient asks yet again "oh, you're a doctor?!", or some smarmy CRNA tells YOU how they'll be doing THEIR anesthetic (unless of course you'd like to do it yourself), or the realization you aren't being adequately compensated for all the long hours and call, and the little voice in the back of your head whispers "see....I told you so"....hopefully you can ignore that voice. Best of luck and congratulations to all that matched!
 
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For fu**s sake its match day, we get it you don't like your job, find another one and quit being a baby.
 
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Honestly, I couldn't imagine either of my grown-up parents going on forums in order to bash their chosen profession. It's unprofessional, neurotic and feeble.
 
Congratulations to every one on their match!

Unfortunately, at every happy moment in your life, there will be people nay-saying you: your wedding, birth of your children, getting a new job, winning the lottery, etc. It's sad, but nothing perturbs unhappy people like other people being happy. It doesn't mean their viewpoints aren't legitimate, and the hard part can be not ignoring what they have to say because of how they say it.

Just recognize it for what it is, acknowledge it, and move on. And good luck with residency!
 
Cool! Just remember that when the surgeon shouts "anesthesia - table up!" for the thousandth time, or some scrub tech ignores you because you're not the surgeon, or a patient asks yet again "oh, you're a doctor?!", or some smarmy CRNA tells YOU how they'll be doing THEIR anesthetic (unless of course you'd like to do it yourself), or the realization you aren't being adequately compensated for all the long hours and call, and the little voice in the back of your head whispers "see....I told you so"....hopefully you can ignore that voice. Best of luck and congratulations to all that matched!

And if you think you can deal with the above. Then you have to deal with stool sitting. What is stool sitting? When you are sitting on the stool day in and day out squeezing on that bag and writing down stable vitals with no bathroom breaks save in between cases. You are basically handcuffed to the machine. And you realize there is a crna with 2 years experience stool sitting in the next room (with NO medical direction) as well and you wonder where it all went wrong. And while you are thinking all of this the circulator interrupts your thoughts and says to you , "Doctor, CRNA Sally wants you to look at this ekg before she induces. Is it ok to proceed? The patient is on the table" As she hands you an ekg that the readout says Bi fascicular block, Old inferior MI, Abnormal EKG. Then you think to your paycheck 210K per year ............. get the picture. The future is not rosy for anesthesiologists.
 
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You'll all be punching yourselves in the head when you finish residency 3 years form now. Ten years from now you'll remember all us "negative Nellies" and think "damn, I should have listened."

Remember similar comments 10 years ago. 10 years later, I'm here and loving it.

Pessimist gonna pessimist. Only bad thing is misery loves company so all the mouth breathers come here to vent and self-loathe.
 
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I've got to say, I'm actually a little embarrassed that some of my anesthesiologist colleagues feel the need to thread**** a match-congratulations thread.


Be as negative as you like in other threads. The trolling in this thread is going to end now, however.
 
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I've got to say, I'm actually a little embarrassed that some of my anesthesiologist colleagues feel the need to thread**** a match-congratulations thread.


Be as negative as you like in other threads. The trolling in this thread is going to end now, however.

I agree PGG. This thread has no place for negativity as these young doctors pursue their dreams. I loved my residency and it was the best time of my life.

I think that SDN has covered all the negatives about this field in detail. This means the young doctors/budding residents are well informed about their decision. I congratulate you all on match day and wish you the best
 
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Thanks BLADE, you have given some great advice and have been extremely helpful in answering many of my questions along with helping with some decisions. I am extremely grateful to both you and several other members on here who have offered their advice and insight. Excited to have matched and for the future.
 
Congrats to all who have matched. Its an exciting time. Just like all the comments that have been posted here, they'll be the same type of folk in your workplace (attendings and co-residents alike). From the excited to moribund, and everything in between. I agree, there is no reason to poo poo a happy thread with negativity (there are enough threads on this forum about the doomsday). Try to enjoy your time in the moment as your managing a GSW at 2 in the morning. I've have made some great life long friends during residency, as we were in the fox hole together and needed each other to lean on at time. Residency goes by quickly, and before you know it, your done. :welcome:
 
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I agree PGG. This thread has no place for negativity as these young doctors pursue their dreams. I loved my residency and it was the best time of my life.

I think that SDN has covered all the negatives about this field in detail. This means the young doctors/budding residents are well informed about their decision. I congratulate you all on match day and wish you the best

Can you elaborate on what made residency the most wonderful time of your life? I'm sure everyone who just matched would like to hear why it went so well for you, especially with all the residency horror stories out there.

To everyone who matched, congratulations. I can't wait until two years from now when I'm sitting in your place.
 
Cool! Just remember that when the surgeon shouts "anesthesia - table up!" for the thousandth time, or some scrub tech ignores you because you're not the surgeon, or a patient asks yet again "oh, you're a doctor?!", or some smarmy CRNA tells YOU how they'll be doing THEIR anesthetic (unless of course you'd like to do it yourself), or the realization you aren't being adequately compensated for all the long hours and call, and the little voice in the back of your head whispers "see....I told you so"....hopefully you can ignore that voice.
Congrats to all the future anesthesiologists. Honestly, I still think anesthesia is one of the best fields out there, especially if you find yourself a good group/practice. Couldn't see myself doing anything else and I honestly have never personally met anyone who has regretted it.

Please let me share some words of wisdom so that you may not acquire the same gripes as the above poster. If I could sum up the job of an anesthesiologist in 1 word, it would be: facilitator. My job is to facilitate pts safely through surgery. That is why we are consulted. It also involves facilitating other things, such as good surgical outcomes. So if the surgeon needs the table higher to perform the procedure more effectively and (fingers crossed) more quickly, I'm happy to help. Also, remember the analogy of anesthesiologists as offensive linemen. Everyone knows who Tom Brady is but I doubt you can name me a single Patriots offensive lineman. We don't get the recognition or attention but we play a huge role in determining the outcome. So if the scrub tech ignores me because I'm not the surgeon, I could care less. I'll take no clinic, no rounds, and no pager over that any day
 
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Can you elaborate on what made residency the most wonderful time of your life? I'm sure everyone who just matched would like to hear why it went so well for you, especially with all the residency horror stories out there.

To everyone who matched, congratulations. I can't wait until two years from now when I'm sitting in your place.

It all depends on the program you go to. You can work your butt off in a collegial environment and have a blast doing it because you are learning, making lifelong friends, and being treated like you matter. There are residencies out there like this. I look back at my residency with a great deal of admiration. I love the place I trained and still keep in contact with a majority of the residents I trained with as well as many of the faculty. I learned anesthesiology, but I also learned a lot about life and how to treat others in times of stress. We all pitched in to get the work done and when someone had a need, we always made sure it was met. When someone needed a call covered for a legitimate reason, it was covered easily and the effort was almost always repaid when things were reversed.
So, I view residency as a time where I had never worked as hard as I did in my life, but I would not trade the experience for anything else. I trained at a time when the numbers of people going into anesthesiology were down, so we had to work even harder. But faculty stepped up to assist as did others in the department to lighten the load in non essential areas and to show that they valued us as persons and they valued our education.
So, it may be a stretch to call it the best time of my life, but it was certainly not the worst and I was very satisfied with my training and how I was treated by my faculty and my colleagues. Most of the ones I trained with had similar feelings
 
Anesthesia is a good job if you are getting paid what you are worth. It is not a good job if you are making 30 Percent more than a family practitioner which is what is going on now. Shoot, there are hospitalists making more than me with a lot more vacation. IM not going to risk my career and livelihood taking the risks i take at this time where my employer is making the lions share of the reimbursements and all Im stuck with is the liability and be at risk for a multi zillion dollar law suit. Sure, if I am exonerated of all wrong doing in the event of a catastrophe and or bad outcome sure Ill take less money but Im not going to take less money and then sign off on 25 patients per day plus do all the nerve blocks as well and then give all the profit to some management company. F that. This is in addition to everything negative people have mentioned. .lack or respect, stool sitting, boredom.... smug smarmy mid levels. etc etc etc
 
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And while you are thinking all of this the circulator interrupts your thoughts and says to you , "Doctor, CRNA Sally wants you to look at this ekg before she induces. Is it ok to proceed? The patient is on the table" As she hands you an ekg that the readout says Bi fascicular block, Old inferior MI, Abnormal EKG. Then you think to your paycheck 210K per year ............. get the picture. The future is not rosy for anesthesiologists.

Well that's easy. No, it's not OK. Case should be cancelled.

If I'm not being reimbursed for doing the case, my opinion will always be that the case should be cancelled (if it's even remotely questionable). If I was doing the case I'd be able to do a more thorough history and physical and evaluate the patient appropriately. Chart biopsy and they want to say they asked me about it if something goes wrong? I'm happy to provide the consultation and say you should cancel the case.
 
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As usual, I see a joyous thread hijacked... Congrats to all those who matched. Anesthesiology is a wonderful field for those who are made for it. :) I knew I wanted to be an anesthesiologist by day 3 of my anes rotation near the end of MS3 year. I was one of those students that enjoyed all clinical rotations (even OB. OMG BABIES!) with unbridled enthusiasm. But man, when I was in the OR on the other side of the drape, I knew that this was the field for me. I love the variety of surgeries, complex physiology and pharmacology, caring for patients on critical levels, and camaraderie among [most] anesthesiologists. And while we are mostly a quiet presence in the OR, when **** hits the fan, everyone looks to us to take charge. That, my future colleagues, is the great responsibility that comes with great power and knowledge.

Some advice for the new doctors-to-be:
1. Be the one that says hello first. A smile and a handshake go a long way.
2. I'd hate to be cliche but treat others (patients, nurses, other doctors) as you want to be treated or see your patients as your family members. Then it becomes easy to give your best everyday. When your patients are under your care, keep in mind that you are the patient's advocate and protector.
3. Don't take things personally, and don't let anyone mistreat you. You get paid way too little as residents to take BS from anyone. If you feel that there is a conflict escalating in the OR, call your attending ASAP.
4. Ask for help when you need it, sooner the better.
5. Don't be that guy who takes off early because everyone notices a selfish slacker. Karma is a bitch.
6. Go above and beyond your duties (within scope of your training level), because once you earn the trust of your attendings, that's when you get assigned cool, challenging cases and that is how you get the most out of your residency.
7. Keep your family and friends close. You'll need them for support throughout your rigorous training.
 
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