Do new grads work at outpatient surgery centers???

[surfdevl02]

Hello all-

I am set to graduate in July '11 and need an honest answer from those of you who have been done for a while. Do new grads ever take jobs at outpatient surgery centers (instead of hospitals)....i'm looking at jobs and there are a lot of surgery centers in the washington, dc area hiring but fewer hospitals. Is it a bad idea to have your first job at an outpatient surgery center...i'm assuming the patients are generally healthier, ASA I-II. Part of me says i should start out doing tougher cases in a hospital setting out of residency...the surgery centers are M-F, no nights, no weekends, no call. I'm assuming they pay less for the given lifestyle but i have not asked about salary. Is this just a really bad idea out of Anesthesia residency???? Thanks for your help!

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[Consigliere]

Hello all-

I am set to graduate in July '11 and need an honest answer from those of you who have been done for a while. Do new grads ever take jobs at outpatient surgery centers (instead of hospitals)....i'm looking at jobs and there are a lot of surgery centers in the washington, dc area hiring but fewer hospitals. Is it a bad idea to have your first job at an outpatient surgery center...i'm assuming the patients are generally healthier, ASA I-II. Part of me says i should start out doing tougher cases in a hospital setting out of residency...the surgery centers are M-F, no nights, no weekends, no call. I'm assuming they pay less for the given lifestyle but i have not asked about salary. Is this just a really bad idea out of Anesthesia residency???? Thanks for your help!

IF you can get one of those jobs, do so. They are usually hard to come by for new grads. You will probably make less money, but your lifestyle will be MUCH better.

 

[Gas]

Don't assume these jobs are easy. There will be a lot of pressure for quick wake-ups/discharges and in my experience, new graduates aren't necessarily ready for this. There is a sense of urgency that is not necessarily present at the big academic centers.

 

[veetz]

I think doing outpt surgery right out of residency is going to hurt you in the long run, as you will lose your skill for taking care of more sick pts and more complex surgeries. It's not unprobable that midlevels will assume more responsibility for the healthier pt's going for bread & butter types of surgeries. In that happens, you will be hurting.

But, you have to determine priorities. If family and work schedule are important and you are interested in those types of positions, then do it.

 

[Jay K]

My group covers hospitals as well as surgery centers. So our new partners do hit the surgery centers rather swiftly, although not immediately. We give 'em a short period of time to acclimate if they're straight out of training.

It's hard to say if taking a straight surgery center job right off the bat is bad, although my gut says you probably should take a more diverse-experience type position first (as your gut seems to indicate as well). It will depend on how desperate the group is and the quality of the other candidates you're up against when moving jobs - say to a more diverse practice. Certainly if the job entails more complex cases and the other candidate has been doing these the past couple of years and you haven't, you might be at a disadvantage in the hiring group's mind.

Funny thing is, in our field, you seldom are turned down for being "over qualified" like in other jobs.

Good luck. Just make sure you save a lot of the money you make, in case you do need to switch jobs. Your "cush" surgery center job won't pay as much, so I wouldn't live high on the hog unless you're independently wealthy or the Missus is...

 

[angryrx]

whoops

 

[amyl]

something to consider for new grads -- if you take a job like this know that you may be seen as only qualified for a job like this. if you haven't done anything but asa 1-2 osc type work in a few years you might be a hard sell for a job with a wider case load. I am very happy my first job out I picked a sh-- sandwich.... doing my own cases, only one on call, zero backup and doing practically every type of subspecialty anes and the widest variety of cases. I think this case log and the accompanying experience is helping me dramatically on the interview trail. good luck

 

[deleted171991]

something to consider for new grads -- if you take a job like this know that you may be seen as only qualified for a job like this. if you haven't done anything but asa 1-2 osc type work in a few years you might be a hard sell for a job with a wider case load. I am very happy my first job out I picked a sh-- sandwich.... doing my own cases, only one on call, zero backup and doing practically every type of subspecialty anes and the widest variety of cases. I think this case log and the accompanying experience is helping me dramatically on the interview trail. good luck

Easy solution to this: critical care or cardiac anesthesia fellowship.

With all due respect, but even the regular OR ****show does not compare to the septic patient on 4 pressors saturating 85% on 100% O2 because of severe ARDS, or with cardiogenic shock and pulmonary edema leading to visible bloody tide in the ETT.

There is no usual OR central line that comes close to an HD cath. And putting in A-lines on fluid overloaded water balloons, I mean patients, is much more difficult than the dry a-lines in the OR.

The one part where I can see loss of skills after ambi plus critical care is OB, may it rest in pieces for the rest of one's career.