Job seekers beware of anesthetix and anthem assosiates

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Well i guess it's time to do my fudiciary duty and warn my colleagues, about, the real world jobs and what to look for. I hope that other people also contribute and give back so that collectively we can clean up and make this profession more honest and better for all of us. First a little about me, i have been out for a few yrs and have gotten to see many different practice situations, the good the bad and the evil, these are my tales. Most of us as we come out of residency are not taught how to look for a job, and thus, lack even the most basic knowledge of how things work in the real world and thus are ripe for being taken advantage of. My first piece of advice to everybody is that, wherever you choose to work, many things can make a job attractive, but do not undervalue how important it is to work with people who you like and trust. if you don't give the proper weight to this you will eventually burn out as you spend to much time every day, at work and will inevitably suffer, i have seen this happen one too many times not to mention this. Now for the meat of this particular posting i have not met anybody that likes or trusts Anesthtix And Anthem Associates. These two entities are owned by the same people, Anesthtix is the anesthesia management company, and Anthem Associates is their locum tenems company, i think they now are part of a Company called Team Health, but this division (anesthtix and anthem associates) is still run by the gentleman who found the company (two pain trained docs), both of whom are esentially businessmen, who make money of other anesthesiologists they hire. Their MO is to take over a contract from an incumbant group(esentially stealing jobs from the local anesthesiologists who are often times caught off guard), by making a slick sales pitch on how they can run the department so much better(laughable), andwill not need a hospital subsidy. Hospital administrators, most of whom i am convinced are not knowledgeable, run to them when they hear this slick sales pitch, without doing a background check and simply calling the other hospitals these clowns have ruined and asking them about their experience with them. Once they have the contract, they really screw the hospital, anesthesiologists they hire, and are eventually kicked out but since their are thousands of hospitals, they run their scam onto the next unsuspecting and unknowing hospital. My belief is that they find out which hospitals are vulnerable to their sales pitch through their locums agencies(Anthems Associates- Funny how no hospital administrator at the hospitals i have worked at has yet to figure out that Anthems is owned by these same clowns, and thus that the hospital is probably being charged double by these scoundrels i will explain this later), Because the locums agencies keep a tab on all the hospitals, and any time a hospital needs locums the chances are that department is poorly run, understaffed, or in expansion mode, so it presents the perfect opportunity, for anesthtix to come in and take over the contract (remember their top two dogs are slick mba salesmen, who are pain docs but DON"T do any anesthesia but are somehow experts at running an anesthesia departments across the country Out of Florida(where they're located) how laughable is that. Anyways once Anestix has the contract they' re next MO is to advertise the job on gasworks, offering their big carrots of 12 weeks of vacation(laughable, i have yet to see anybody that gets these 12 weeks, because their reputation is so bad that they never have their hospital fully staffed as no one wants to work for them outside of a locum basis) and offering either 350k or 400k. with quarterly bonuses, (which you never see, because they will always tell you that, nobody got a bonus because they had to pay for locums, because they couldn't staff the hospital, which i believe is also a lie, because my belief is that they charge the hospital the locums bill and than pocket that money to , thus why they have their own locums agency and thats the only agency which they use). Note anthems like any management company has to make money off you so if theyre paying you 350 k youre usually doing 500k worth of work. New grads alot of times miss out on this concept. Anestix makes you take q3 call for the 3 weeks your on and then ideally gives you 1 week of vacation(as mentioned you will often lose your vacation, because they are not fully staffed, or you have constant turnover of mda's and are constantly breaking them in only to see them leave, and before you know it you're taking call, because the new guy anthem has found won't be credentialed, for a few weeks or someother half ass excuse) but in those 3 weeks that your working you re basically doing 4 weeks worth of work(another slick way anesthtix pulls the wool over your eyes, especially over new grads). furthermore, at any job you have, you will have your runins with other people (crnas, surgeons, nurses, administration etc), this is the nature of every job and happens everywhere i have been, the difference here is the because people know that a management company, is the boss they will call them and make complaints about you( this happen to every anesthesiologist at the 2 hospitals in 2 different states that i
worked for anesthtix through anthems(their locums agency), Anesthtix, will never take your side as their only concern is to maintain their contract( which don't maintain anyways as they have been kicked out of both of the hospitals that i worked for them). They went though 6 chiefs many of whom were good at the two hospitals i had experience with them, furthermore, they have gone through whole sale turnover( 12 anesthesiologist in 18 months at one of their facilities, a facility which was staffed with 4 Mdas.) we were forced to work with incompetant crnas as anesthtix doesn't care remember it s your license that is on the line. This post has gotten really long but Please people before you work with either Anthems ASsociates, or Anesthtix (or what other name they use to deceive people and get a clean start on their reputation), do some research on these guys. talk to some people that worked for them they have ruined to many people and to many hospitals for this charade to go on any further. At the current hospital everybody wants to kick them out, surgeons, mdas, nurses, they have the worse reputation in Anesthesia.

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Well i guess it's time to do my fudiciary duty and warn my colleagues, about, the real world jobs and what to look for. I hope that other people also contribute and give back so that collectively we can clean up and make this profession more honest and better for all of us. First a little about me, i have been out for a few yrs and have gotten to see many different practice situations, the good the bad and the evil, these are my tales. Most of us as we come out of residency are not taught how to look for a job, and thus, lack even the most basic knowledge of how things work in the real world and thus are ripe for being taken advantage of. My first piece of advice to everybody is that, wherever you choose to work, many things can make a job attractive, but do not undervalue how important it is to work with people who you like and trust. if you don't give the proper weight to this you will eventually burn out as you spend to much time every day, at work and will inevitably suffer, i have seen this happen one too many times not to mention this. Now for the meat of this particular posting i have not met anybody that likes or trusts Anesthtix And Anthem Associates. These two entities are owned by the same people, Anesthtix is the anesthesia management company, and Anthem Associates is their locum tenems company, i think they now are part of a Company called Team Health, but this division (anesthtix and anthem associates) is still run by the gentleman who found the company (two pain trained docs), both of whom are esentially businessmen, who make money of other anesthesiologists they hire. Their MO is to take over a contract from an incumbant group(esentially stealing jobs from the local anesthesiologists who are often times caught off guard), by making a slick sales pitch on how they can run the department so much better(laughable), andwill not need a hospital subsidy. Hospital administrators, most of whom i am convinced are not knowledgeable, run to them when they hear this slick sales pitch, without doing a background check and simply calling the other hospitals these clowns have ruined and asking them about their experience with them. Once they have the contract, they really screw the hospital, anesthesiologists they hire, and are eventually kicked out but since their are thousands of hospitals, they run their scam onto the next unsuspecting and unknowing hospital. My belief is that they find out which hospitals are vulnerable to their sales pitch through their locums agencies(Anthems Associates- Funny how no hospital administrator at the hospitals i have worked at has yet to figure out that Anthems is owned by these same clowns, and thus that the hospital is probably being charged double by these scoundrels i will explain this later), Because the locums agencies keep a tab on all the hospitals, and any time a hospital needs locums the chances are that department is poorly run, understaffed, or in expansion mode, so it presents the perfect opportunity, for anesthtix to come in and take over the contract (remember their top two dogs are slick mba salesmen, who are pain docs but DON"T do any anesthesia but are somehow experts at running an anesthesia departments across the country Out of Florida(where they're located) how laughable is that. Anyways once Anestix has the contract they' re next MO is to advertise the job on gasworks, offering their big carrots of 12 weeks of vacation(laughable, i have yet to see anybody that gets these 12 weeks, because their reputation is so bad that they never have their hospital fully staffed as no one wants to work for them outside of a locum basis) and offering either 350k or 400k. with quarterly bonuses, (which you never see, because they will always tell you that, nobody got a bonus because they had to pay for locums, because they couldn't staff the hospital, which i believe is also a lie, because my belief is that they charge the hospital the locums bill and than pocket that money to , thus why they have their own locums agency and thats the only agency which they use). Note anthems like any management company has to make money off you so if theyre paying you 350 k youre usually doing 500k worth of work. New grads alot of times miss out on this concept. Anestix makes you take q3 call for the 3 weeks your on and then ideally gives you 1 week of vacation(as mentioned you will often lose your vacation, because they are not fully staffed, or you have constant turnover of mda's and are constantly breaking them in only to see them leave, and before you know it you're taking call, because the new guy anthem has found won't be credentialed, for a few weeks or someother half ass excuse) but in those 3 weeks that your working you re basically doing 4 weeks worth of work(another slick way anesthtix pulls the wool over your eyes, especially over new grads). furthermore, at any job you have, you will have your runins with other people (crnas, surgeons, nurses, administration etc), this is the nature of every job and happens everywhere i have been, the difference here is the because people know that a management company, is the boss they will call them and make complaints about you( this happen to every anesthesiologist at the 2 hospitals in 2 different states that i
worked for anesthtix through anthems(their locums agency), Anesthtix, will never take your side as their only concern is to maintain their contract( which don't maintain anyways as they have been kicked out of both of the hospitals that i worked for them). They went though 6 chiefs many of whom were good at the two hospitals i had experience with them, furthermore, they have gone through whole sale turnover( 12 anesthesiologist in 18 months at one of their facilities, a facility which was staffed with 4 Mdas.) we were forced to work with incompetant crnas as anesthtix doesn't care remember it s your license that is on the line. This post has gotten really long but Please people before you work with either Anthems ASsociates, or Anesthtix (or what other name they use to deceive people and get a clean start on their reputation), do some research on these guys. talk to some people that worked for them they have ruined to many people and to many hospitals for this charade to go on any further. At the current hospital everybody wants to kick them out, surgeons, mdas, nurses, they have the worse reputation in Anesthesia.


Great post!! Having done some locums. I have encountered many former Anesthetix employees. I have yet to meet anyone who felt they were treated fairly by Anesthetix or had anything positive to say about their time working for Anesthetix.

This bring up the importance of taking the time to locate and talk to some of the people who were working at a position a year or two before you are going to start. With Ansthetix they will most likely have moved on and be eager to tell you the full story, not the big promises and rosy picture the recruiter is trying to sell you.
 
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Typical Locums gig.

Locums can serve a purpose for an individual or even an understaffed hospital but is more times than not a bad deal for all involved.

I have always believed that locums was the worst thing for a new grad to start with. You learn nothing from coworkers. In a group practice you learn more than you ever bargained for. THe practice may not be your final resting place but it will offer you experiences beyond residency and make you a better physician.
 
Does your degree say "MDA"? Mine says MD. Do any of the surgeons you work with go by MDS?

MDA is a term coined by CRNAs to again blur the difference between a doctor and a nurse. I find it surprising that a doctor like you chooses to refer to himself as an MDA. Are you also a "provider"? I am a doctor and an Anesthesiologist, not an MDA, certainly not a provider.
 
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Oh and I must mention, you are dead right with your story on anesthetix. They took over the anesthesia contract at a nearby hospital and holy turnover city! Nurses and docs are in and out very few weeks. Morale is poor and their reputation is terrible. We benefit from their instability as many of their surgeons prefer to bring their patients to our hospital.
 
This issue should be tackled by the higher ups within the ASA. They need to publish this data so that groups have ammo when these sharks move in to low bid a contract. The CEO's need to know what they are getting for their low bid.
 
Great post. Agreed. A small hospital in the central valley of CA was taken over last year. It has been a nightmare for the surgeons/hospital. The hospital has been raped by huge $$ bill from Team Health. (Anesthetix,AA) They are about to get kicked out. They basically lie to everyone and make $$ and leave. No morales. Stay away from all AMCs but run way from Team Health. IMHO
 
Great post. Agreed. A small hospital in the central valley of CA was taken over last year. It has been a nightmare for the surgeons/hospital. The hospital has been raped by huge $$ bill from Team Health. (Anesthetix,AA) They are about to get kicked out. They basically lie to everyone and make $$ and leave. No morales. Stay away from all AMCs but run way from Team Health. IMHO

Visalia?
 
The problem with these hospital administrators is they are all downright ******ed. They are not physicians. They only care about money. They have nothing to offer. So when they hear they can get a better anesthesia service for cheaper, they jump all over it. I mean, who in their right mind would do q3 overnight call as an attending unless they were making seven figures. Thanks for the info.
 
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That was my first thought too. Just a few miles away from me. If even half the stories I hear third-hand through the rumor mill are true, they're right to be pissed and a bunch of hospital administrators deserve to be abruptly unemployed.

That's your opportunity to start your own group.
That's the next trend, picking up the pieces after the AMC drops the ball.
You need to put together a regional supergroup. $$$ to be made, one Hospital at time.
 
That's your opportunity to start your own group.
That's the next trend, picking up the pieces after the AMC drops the ball.
You need to put together a regional supergroup. $$$ to be made, one Hospital at time.

Amen.

Networking with other gas passers is worth it's weight in diamonds.

I'd like to hear how JET got his gig going. That is quite the endeavor... but certainly possible to do when an AMC leaves a bad taste in a hospitals mouth... Seen it in my own region.
 
Somnia has Visalia.

Somnia.... I love hearing stories about them. They have burned some bridges in the region where I am. Also, the owners were residents from my program and no one even mentions their name here.
 
Well i guess it's time to do my fudiciary duty and warn my colleagues, about, the real world jobs and what to look for. I hope that other people also contribute and give back so that collectively we can clean up and make this profession more honest and better for all of us. First a little about me, i have been out for a few yrs and have gotten to see many different practice situations, the good the bad and the evil, these are my tales. Most of us as we come out of residency are not taught how to look for a job, and thus, lack even the most basic knowledge of how things work in the real world and thus are ripe for being taken advantage of. My first piece of advice to everybody is that, wherever you choose to work, many things can make a job attractive, but do not undervalue how important it is to work with people who you like and trust. if you don't give the proper weight to this you will eventually burn out as you spend to much time every day, at work and will inevitably suffer, i have seen this happen one too many times not to mention this. Now for the meat of this particular posting i have not met anybody that likes or trusts Anesthtix And Anthem Associates. These two entities are owned by the same people, Anesthtix is the anesthesia management company, and Anthem Associates is their locum tenems company, i think they now are part of a Company called Team Health, but this division (anesthtix and anthem associates) is still run by the gentleman who found the company (two pain trained docs), both of whom are esentially businessmen, who make money of other anesthesiologists they hire. Their MO is to take over a contract from an incumbant group(esentially stealing jobs from the local anesthesiologists who are often times caught off guard), by making a slick sales pitch on how they can run the department so much better(laughable), andwill not need a hospital subsidy. Hospital administrators, most of whom i am convinced are not knowledgeable, run to them when they hear this slick sales pitch, without doing a background check and simply calling the other hospitals these clowns have ruined and asking them about their experience with them. Once they have the contract, they really screw the hospital, anesthesiologists they hire, and are eventually kicked out but since their are thousands of hospitals, they run their scam onto the next unsuspecting and unknowing hospital. My belief is that they find out which hospitals are vulnerable to their sales pitch through their locums agencies(Anthems Associates- Funny how no hospital administrator at the hospitals i have worked at has yet to figure out that Anthems is owned by these same clowns, and thus that the hospital is probably being charged double by these scoundrels i will explain this later), Because the locums agencies keep a tab on all the hospitals, and any time a hospital needs locums the chances are that department is poorly run, understaffed, or in expansion mode, so it presents the perfect opportunity, for anesthtix to come in and take over the contract (remember their top two dogs are slick mba salesmen, who are pain docs but DON"T do any anesthesia but are somehow experts at running an anesthesia departments across the country Out of Florida(where they're located) how laughable is that. Anyways once Anestix has the contract they' re next MO is to advertise the job on gasworks, offering their big carrots of 12 weeks of vacation(laughable, i have yet to see anybody that gets these 12 weeks, because their reputation is so bad that they never have their hospital fully staffed as no one wants to work for them outside of a locum basis) and offering either 350k or 400k. with quarterly bonuses, (which you never see, because they will always tell you that, nobody got a bonus because they had to pay for locums, because they couldn't staff the hospital, which i believe is also a lie, because my belief is that they charge the hospital the locums bill and than pocket that money to , thus why they have their own locums agency and thats the only agency which they use). Note anthems like any management company has to make money off you so if theyre paying you 350 k youre usually doing 500k worth of work. New grads alot of times miss out on this concept. Anestix makes you take q3 call for the 3 weeks your on and then ideally gives you 1 week of vacation(as mentioned you will often lose your vacation, because they are not fully staffed, or you have constant turnover of mda's and are constantly breaking them in only to see them leave, and before you know it you're taking call, because the new guy anthem has found won't be credentialed, for a few weeks or someother half ass excuse) but in those 3 weeks that your working you re basically doing 4 weeks worth of work(another slick way anesthtix pulls the wool over your eyes, especially over new grads). furthermore, at any job you have, you will have your runins with other people (crnas, surgeons, nurses, administration etc), this is the nature of every job and happens everywhere i have been, the difference here is the because people know that a management company, is the boss they will call them and make complaints about you( this happen to every anesthesiologist at the 2 hospitals in 2 different states that i
worked for anesthtix through anthems(their locums agency), Anesthtix, will never take your side as their only concern is to maintain their contract( which don't maintain anyways as they have been kicked out of both of the hospitals that i worked for them). They went though 6 chiefs many of whom were good at the two hospitals i had experience with them, furthermore, they have gone through whole sale turnover( 12 anesthesiologist in 18 months at one of their facilities, a facility which was staffed with 4 Mdas.) we were forced to work with incompetant crnas as anesthtix doesn't care remember it s your license that is on the line. This post has gotten really long but Please people before you work with either Anthems ASsociates, or Anesthtix (or what other name they use to deceive people and get a clean start on their reputation), do some research on these guys. talk to some people that worked for them they have ruined to many people and to many hospitals for this charade to go on any further. At the current hospital everybody wants to kick them out, surgeons, mdas, nurses, they have the worse reputation in Anesthesia.

so now it's Team Health? Same old story still?
 
This issue should be tackled by the higher ups within the ASA. They need to publish this data so that groups have ammo when these sharks move in to low bid a contract. The CEO's need to know what they are getting for their low bid.

The ASA works for the AMCs.
 
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Yes some AMC's are better than others but still..... BS all around! I don't care if you don't know the basics of anesthesia billing when you finish residency, but if your interested in PP why o why would you work for a company vs an independent group? Yes an indep group can be making money off you too, but if they are not a good group of people then head out. You will gain some experience and be better off. To all of the older attns: were groups just as predatory back when you started?
 
Yes some AMC's are better than others but still..... BS all around! I don't care if you don't know the basics of anesthesia billing when you finish residency, but if your interested in PP why o why would you work for a company vs an independent group? Yes an indep group can be making money off you too, but if they are not a good group of people then head out. You will gain some experience and be better off. To all of the older attns: were groups just as predatory back when you started?

Even more so.
 
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Yes some AMC's are better than others but still..... BS all around! I don't care if you don't know the basics of anesthesia billing when you finish residency, but if your interested in PP why o why would you work for a company vs an independent group? Yes an indep group can be making money off you too, but if they are not a good group of people then head out. You will gain some experience and be better off. To all of the older attns: were groups just as predatory back when you started?
Anesthesia private groups in "desirable areas" were traditionally run by crooks and used car salesmen types who happen to be anesthesiologists unfortunately.
This has never changed and actually got worse overtime. These shady characters are still running the few remaining private groups, but many of them either sold out or metamorphosed into AMC "leaders" / scum.
 
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My impression of these old losers who are (hopefully) near retirement in anesthesiology is that they tended to be the worst students in their med school class. Anesthesiology was not a high respect, high reimbursement field, so it tended to attract low quality people. When the crna supervision thing came into popularity these low quality people won the lotto, so to speak. They could bill x4 and not even lift a finger. Now they were making a lot more money and this solidified their place as the used car salesman type. This is why the specialty is struggling with an identity crisis at the moment. It was sold out by these slimey businessmen. Instead of advancing the specialty and being good doctors, they worried more about how they could upsell patients and make extra money. Many of these guys are still around in these predatory private practices and while it has become harder to screw over patients, it's still easy to screw over fellow doctors.
 
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My impression of these old losers who are (hopefully) near retirement in anesthesiology is that they tended to be the worst students in their med school class. Anesthesiology was not a high respect, high reimbursement field, so it tended to attract low quality people. When the crna supervision thing came into popularity these low quality people won the lotto, so to speak. They could bill x4 and not even lift a finger. Now they were making a lot more money and this solidified their place as the used car salesman type. This is why the specialty is struggling with an identity crisis at the moment. It was sold out by these slimey businessmen. Instead of advancing the specialty and being good doctors, they worried more about how they could upsell patients and make extra money. Many of these guys are still around in these predatory private practices and while it has become harder to screw over patients, it's still easy to screw over fellow doctors.

This needs to be an F'in sticky. Post of the year.

That being said, there are still quality, fair PP groups out there if you know where to look.
 
My impression of these old losers who are (hopefully) near retirement in anesthesiology is that they tended to be the worst students in their med school class. Anesthesiology was not a high respect, high reimbursement field, so it tended to attract low quality people. When the crna supervision thing came into popularity these low quality people won the lotto, so to speak. They could bill x4 and not even lift a finger. Now they were making a lot more money and this solidified their place as the used car salesman type. This is why the specialty is struggling with an identity crisis at the moment. It was sold out by these slimey businessmen. Instead of advancing the specialty and being good doctors, they worried more about how they could upsell patients and make extra money. Many of these guys are still around in these predatory private practices and while it has become harder to screw over patients, it's still easy to screw over fellow doctors.

"that they tended to be the worst students in their med school class. Anesthesiology was not a high respect, high reimbursement field, so it tended to attract low quality people."

Was true till about the mid 80s or so. Starting the late 80s, Anesthesia got its share of the top of the class. Most of those dinosaurs should be gone or nearly so.

Some of the biggest rapists of their fellow docs that I have known personally have been very talented clinicians. These guys are now pushing 60. In order to rape your fellow docs, one had to be willing to be surrounded by young, hungry docs who you were exploiting who were looking to stick a knife in your back. If you were lame clinically or terminally lazy you would have a hard time surviving a palace coup. Undoubtedly some of this generation are undoubtedly yo yos. But I think that it is more of an exception. They are just rotten men. Not necessarily rotten docs.
 
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"that they tended to be the worst students in their med school class. Anesthesiology was not a high respect, high reimbursement field, so it tended to attract low quality people."

Was true till about the mid 80s or so. Starting the late 80s, Anesthesia got its share of the top of the class. Most of those dinosaurs should be gone or nearly so.

Some of the biggest rapists of their fellow docs that I have known personally have been very talented clinicians. These guys are now pushing 60. In order to rape your fellow docs, one had to be willing to be surrounded by young, hungry docs who you were exploiting who were looking to stick a knife in your back. If you were lame clinically or terminally lazy you would have a hard time surviving a palace coup. Undoubtedly some of this generation are undoubtedly yo yos. But I think that it is more of an exception. They are just rotten men. Not necessarily rotten docs.

Nope, not from what I've seen. When I was in medical school and residency, I came across some pretty admirable internists and other specialists...even in private practice. These were people you looked up to and made you want to practice medicine. The old timers I come across in anesthesia now tend to be crooks and defer to CRNAs when there is any complicated medical issue. There are exceptions, obviously, but from my experience the old timer anesthesiologists are not good role models.
 
anesthesia has had its ups and down. The golden years of anesthesia were in the late 70s to mid 80s. Billing per 6 minutes a unit. Many docs esp primary docs switched over to anesthesia in early 80s esp with the 2 year anesthesia requirement (1 plus 2) so 2 years since they got credit for one year already

Of course the whole market tanked 1994-1998.

So I don't necessary agree the dumbest people went into anesthesia.

In fact. Probably the 1990-1991 entertaining anesthesia residency classes (those finishing 1994-1995) were probably the brightest. Since the 1990-1991 match was very competitive.

So it puts the 1990-1991 graduating med school around age 50-55 years old. They lived through the tough mid 1990s period. Ready to sell out
 
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Nope, not from what I've seen. When I was in medical school and residency, I came across some pretty admirable internists and other specialists...even in private practice. These were people you looked up to and made you want to practice medicine. The old timers I come across in anesthesia now tend to be crooks and defer to CRNAs when there is any complicated medical issue. There are exceptions, obviously, but from my experience the old timer anesthesiologists are not good role models.

-Many of us will have some deterioration of faculties and work ethic as we get older.
-Every residency year will have some geniuses and some idiots.
-Agree that the idiot/genius ratio has varied noticeably over the years for Anesthesia.
-You seem to believe that business savvy and willingness to exploit one's colleagues and financial success is more likely to lie with the less clinically skilled (arguably less bright). I find that counterintuitive and it is not my personal observation
 
-You seem to believe that business savvy and willingness to exploit one's colleagues and financial success is more likely to lie with the less clinically skilled (arguably less bright). I find that counterintuitive and it is not my personal observation

Nope. You're not going to convince me. I'm not going to give specific examples in the name of maintaining anonymity, but I have not been impressed with the old timers in anesthesia. That's why the specialty is in the position it is in now.

Intellectual business savvy is not the same as slimey dishonesty...hence the used car salesman metaphor. Is a used car salesman the same as Warren Buffet? Maintaining integrity is a piece of creating a "savvy" business image and these old guys just didn't do it.
 
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Not trying to convince you. Just contributing to the discussion. Same as you.

Some of the young and middle-aged rockstars of today will be tomorrow's behind the times, lazy, gomey attendings. I have seen it happen.
 
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Not trying to convince you. Just contributing to the discussion. Same as you.

Some of the young and middle-aged rockstars of today will be tomorrow's behind the times, lazy, gomey attendings. I have seen it happen.

That is true, but it is also true that anesthesia has an image problem...both in the public eye and within a lot of hospitals. This is because of those old timers. I hear stories from patients all the time telling me about the anesthesia bills they got 20-30 years ago...bills for two providers, out of network fees. Anesthesia is also different than other specialties because it's easy to stay in practice when you lose a step because you can lean on the CRNAs. There is less of an incentive for anesthesiologists to stay on top of things when you can just have the crna do the work.
 
That is true, but it is also true that anesthesia has an image problem...both in the public eye and within a lot of hospitals. This is because of those old timers. I hear stories from patients all the time telling me about the anesthesia bills they got 20-30 years ago...bills for two providers, out of network fees. Anesthesia is also different than other specialties because it's easy to stay in practice when you lose a step because you can lean on the CRNAs. There is less of an incentive for anesthesiologists to stay on top of things when you can just have the crna do the work.

That one I can agree with.
 
anesthesia has had its ups and down. The golden years of anesthesia were in the late 70s to mid 80s. Billing per 6 minutes a unit. Many docs esp primary docs switched over to anesthesia in early 80s esp with the 2 year anesthesia requirement (1 plus 2) so 2 years since they got credit for one year already

Of course the whole market tanked 1994-1998.

So I don't necessary agree the dumbest people went into anesthesia.

In fact. Probably the 1990-1991 entertaining anesthesia residency classes (those finishing 1994-1995) were probably the brightest. Since the 1990-1991 match was very competitive.

So it puts the 1990-1991 graduating med school around age 50-55 years old. They lived through the tough mid 1990s period. Ready to sell out

This convo is super interesting....your post and others should be pieced into a time line chart, lol.
 
My take is ....

You might have to have some business wits about you if you are able to take advantage of others. This ability is likely unrelated to how capable you are as a physician. With that said, I'm sure the weaker clinical docs looked for other ways to get ahead. Seems like those weaker clinical docs with a business mind leaned on the CRNA's until they were able to find a way to create pyramid schemes and climb the AMC ladder. I guess it's smart (self aware of their clinical skills and looked for another way).

As far as the age thing goes, Ive encountered many aged anesthesiologist who are incredible mentors and clinical rockstars. Not arguing with the historical timeline of our profession, but just saying that there are some really great older attendings out that I highly respect.
 
Either way, Anybody have recent experience with Team Health as an employee?

There are horrible posts about Anesthetix if you search the old forums. I believe some of the leadership has changed (original pain guy from anesthetix seems to work elsewhere).
 
Either way, Anybody have recent experience with Team Health as an employee?

There are horrible posts about Anesthetix if you search the old forums. I believe some of the leadership has changed (original pain guy from anesthetix seems to work elsewhere).

I know one guy who is satisfied with his team health job. It is in a shjthole in BFE so they have to pay him well to retain anybody good. No other data.


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