Anesthesia Residents Has 2nd Highest Percentage of Career-Choice Regret

[chocomorsel]

They only have to do that for a couple years before they become CRNA/APNP/DNP/FNP/PhD/MBA.

Let’s be real. Only a fraction of nurses are doing that. Most aren’t. As a former nurse, I know 90k is not the norm.

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[Kevin Durant]

They only have to do that for a couple years before they become CRNA/APNP/DNP/FNP/PhD/MBA.

In those few years, their 90k salary has already been overtaken severalfold by a conservatively estimated 300k salary. There's a reason why you see nurses later on going to medical school and not the other way around.

There are attractive aspects of nursing. A better financial package is not one of them.

 

[GravelRider]

Let’s be real. Only a fraction of nurses are doing that. Most aren’t. As a former nurse, I know 90k is not the norm.

It is in the northeast...actually higher. I know because there was a threatened nurse strike at a hospital I worked at a few years ago and the hospital CEO retaliated by publishing average nurse salaries. The range was $90-120k. This was for a$$-wiper floor and ICU nurses. The NPs and CRNAs are obviously much higher.

Bottom line is if you are not going to your state med school and are considering a specialty where you make <$300k (peds, primary care, neuro, etc...), you are much better off doing nursing. Even if you are in the >$300k specialties, the lifestyle flexibility and career flexibility that nursing offers makes it a much better deal than med school. I always advise people to strongly consider nursing school if they have any interest in the health professions.

 

[acidbase1]

I am not surprised at all. Anesthesia residency is tough...you have to deal with POS academic surgeons...useless CRNAs...tons of studying plus long hours...and being responsible for critical aspects of patient survival very early on. Can be overwhelming.

Things are a million times better in PP. Hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. But I couldnt have dreamed of a better specialty now that I have been out for a few years

Couldn’t agree more, residency was pure hell

 

[Stank811]

These threads are so predictable. But another thing to think about in the fly over critical access hospitals is case volume. Often very low.

I work in an opt out state and I will be the first to tell you that it means nothing when it comes to “independent practice”. Before we opted out CRNA did their own cases at the same hospitals they currently work “independently” except the surgeons no longer sign the chart.

Even with pass through funding many of these rural hospitals are in the red by millions on the anesthesia service line even though they employ only CRNAs bc they case volume is so low.

Hospitals are willing to eat the cost to gain a point of access into the health system. A trend we are seeing in my region is hospitals systems leaning on the PP groups covering the referal centers to also begin covering the rural sites which of course would even be more expensive if the group decides to add physician to the equation.

The reasons they lean on the groups is to hopefully help shift cost from hospital to PP group but to also improve quality and case complexity at the rural sites.

 

[Psai]

It is in the northeast...actually higher. I know because there was a threatened nurse strike at a hospital I worked at a few years ago and the hospital CEO retaliated by publishing average nurse salaries. The range was $90-120k. This was for a$$-wiper floor and ICU nurses. The NPs and CRNAs are obviously much higher.

Bottom line is if you are not going to your state med school and are considering a specialty where you make <$300k (peds, primary care, neuro, etc...), you are much better off doing nursing. Even if you are in the >$300k specialties, the lifestyle flexibility and career flexibility that nursing offers makes it a much better deal than med school. I always advise people to strongly consider nursing school if they have any interest in the health professions.

Brigham nurses are always striking and they easily make six figures.

In NYC hospitals, 100k is incredibly common unless you're at a public hospital. This is for a 36 hour week.

 

[Man o War]

You guys are talking about relatively small swaths of the country where the COL is so high it negates the higher rate and they wouldn’t have any nurses if they didn’t pay that much.
It’s not the average by far.

 

[chocomorsel]

Brigham nurses are always striking and they easily make six figures.

In NYC hospitals, 100k is incredibly common unless you're at a public hospital. This is for a 36 hour week.

Well, NYC is also f-king expensive as hell isn't it now? Most of America is not that expensive.
100k doesn't go too far in NYC. They need to make that money to pay their $2500 a month 2 bedroom 800 SF 2/2 apartments now don't they? And that's being generous

 

[deleted171991]

You guys are talking about relatively small swaths of the country where the COL is so high it negates the higher rate and they wouldn’t have any nurses if they didn’t pay that much.
It’s not the average by far.

Interestingly, they can get away with paying doctors less, so I doubt they overpay nurses. There is a sucker (who wants to live in a big city) born every minute.

 

[bronx43]

In those few years, their 90k salary has already been overtaken severalfold by a conservatively estimated 300k salary. There's a reason why you see nurses later on going to medical school and not the other way around.

There are attractive aspects of nursing. A better financial package is not one of them.

I'm not saying you're better off financially being a nurse, but the difference between MD and RN route these days is not what it used to be.

 

[chocomorsel]

Interestingly, they can get away with paying doctors less, so I doubt they overpay nurses. There is a sucker (who wants to live in a big city) born every minute.

Doctors are stupid when it comes to a lot of crap. I tell people all the time that 7 on/7 off schedule is not really 26 weeks off a year because its equivalent to 42hs/week of work a year an no time off. But doctors don't see that ****. They too excited.
And when they get bullied into doing more **** for no money, they suck it up, lest they lose a precious contract.
Nurses at least fight back. And they can strike.

 

[deleted171991]

Doctors are stupid when it comes to a lot of crap. I tell people all the time that 7 on/7 off schedule is not really 26 weeks off a year because its equivalent to 42hs/week of work a year an no time off. But doctors don't see that ****. They too excited.
And when they get bullied into doing more **** for no money, they suck it up, lest they lose a precious contract.
Nurses at least fight back. And they can strike.

They also tend to not notice that they are working every 2nd weekend, which should be paid ROYALLY.

 

[Man o War]

Interestingly, they can get away with paying doctors less, so I doubt they overpay nurses. There is a sucker (who wants to live in a big city) born every minute.

Yes, for sure.

 

[Man o War]

They also tend to not notice that they are working every 2nd weekend, which should be paid ROYALLY.

That’s why I laugh when people point to these independent CRNA practices as if they’re some great accomplishment. Q2/3 call for life in some dump hospital sounds like the 7th circle of hell for me personally.

 

[frosted2]

Nurses in the Midwest, south, north central aren’t making 90k for 3/12s.
Plus there’s that whole butt wiping sponge bath thing.

Yep. More like $40 k IF you are lucky.

 

[Man o War]

These threads are so predictable. But another thing to think about in the fly over critical access hospitals is case volume. Often very low.

I work in an opt out state and I will be the first to tell you that it means nothing when it comes to “independent practice”. Before we opted out CRNA did their own cases at the same hospitals they currently work “independently” except the surgeons no longer sign the chart.

Even with pass through funding many of these rural hospitals are in the red by millions on the anesthesia service line even though they employ only CRNAs bc they case volume is so low.

Hospitals are willing to eat the cost to gain a point of access into the health system. A trend we are seeing in my region is hospitals systems leaning on the PP groups covering the referal centers to also begin covering the rural sites which of course would even be more expensive if the group decides to add physician to the equation.

The reasons they lean on the groups is to hopefully help shift cost from hospital to PP group but to also improve quality and case complexity at the rural sites.

Same. Hospital consolidation in full force around here. I don’t think many of the critical access hospitals around here will survive. They have regional medical centers relatively close that can handle higher acuity and have better infrastructure. They also have better surgeons and real anesthesia services.

 

[Mr.S]

Well, NYC is also f-king expensive as hell isn't it now? Most of America is not that expensive.
100k doesn't go too far in NYC. They need to make that money to pay their $2500 a month 2 bedroom 800 SF 2/2 apartments now don't they? And that's being generous

https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/new-york-city-nurse-salary-SRCH_IL.0,13_IM615_KO14,19.htm
https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/philadelphia-nurse-salary-SRCH_IL.0,12_IM676_KO13,18.htm

 

[pgg]

I like anesthesiology. I think it's going to keep working out OK for me.

I think I'd have been miserable as a nurse. The pay and job security is pretty good for a bachelor's degree. Three 12s per week sounds OK, except for the night shifts. But that cross they're issued at graduation that they have to bear sounds pretty heavy, at least to hear them talk about it. Also, there are a lot of gross tasks in the job description.

If I was doing it all over again and for some reason decided I was going to work in healthcare, but not be a doctor, I'd look at being a perfusionist. That's a pretty cool job for a master's degree. It wasn't even on my radar as an undergrad.

 

[abolt18]

https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/new-york-city-nurse-salary-SRCH_IL.0,13_IM615_KO14,19.htm
https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/philadelphia-nurse-salary-SRCH_IL.0,12_IM676_KO13,18.htm

https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/st-louis-nurse-salary-SRCH_IL.0,8_IM823_KO9,14.htm

 

[GravelRider]

90-120k is not in NYC. There is more to the northeast than NYC. Outside of the cities it’s pretty darn affordable. My point is if you are looking at private or out of state med schools and a low paying specialty, nursing school is likely a better option. It’s still a great option even if you are considering a higher paying specialty. You can wipe a$$es for a few years making 100k then move on to your sweet CRNA gig or pick up the golden clipboard and boss some know-it-all doctors around.

Med school is not the financial slam dunk it once was and when considering things like lifestyle, there are better options out there. The cost to attend private med schools is becoming so obscene. I see people going into crazy amounts of debt just to go to one of these Caribbean schools. Bad decision. A high school/college kid interested in the health professions is better off looking at nursing school, in my opinion.

 

[deleted500612]

One of my med school friends switched out of anesthesia when she realized she couldn’t wear nice clothes at work.

Hah, in my books not having to wear nice clothes at work is one of the pros of anesthesia.

 

[Kevin Durant]

Hah, in my books not having to wear nice clothes at work is one of the pros of anesthesia.

She

 

[Cryc_to_the_point]

In Kentucky nurses can expect to start above $45K and quickly go above $60K. They're paid incredibly well for their education.

 

[deleted50478]

In Kentucky nurses can expect to start above $45K and quickly go above $60K. They're paid incredibly well for their education.

I never considered nursing school. I don’t think anyone near the top of their class in school considers nursing. It’s more of a B student path.

There are plenty of careers paying 60k I would prefer to nursing.

 

[RedPhys]

I never considered nursing school. I don’t think anyone near the top of their class in school considers nursing. It’s more of a B student path.

Agreed. On the other hand, I've seen more than a handful of PAs that remind me of my more-competitive classmates.

 

[deleted126335]

That’s why I laugh when people point to these independent CRNA practices as if they’re some great accomplishment. Q2/3 call for life in some dump hospital sounds like the 7th circle of hell for me personally.

Yeah, but they don't have to answer to a**holes like us.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I never considered nursing school. I don’t think anyone near the top of their class in school considers nursing. It’s more of a B student path.

There are plenty of careers paying 60k I would prefer to nursing.

Eh. I think you are probably mostly right but I know some nurses who did very well in college and went to nursing due to personal experiences with it. My wife included. She had a 3.9 in undergrad and chose nursing because she volunteered with hospice and got intrigued. She ended up doing heme/onc and a lot of her co workers chose nursing because they had cancer as kids and really connected with the nursing staff.

Sorry to post on here. I lurk a lot because the specialty interests me, but I just wanted to share a slightly different perspective.

 

[Mr.S]

I like anesthesiology. I think it's going to keep working out OK for me.

I think I'd have been miserable as a nurse. The pay and job security is pretty good for a bachelor's degree. Three 12s per week sounds OK, except for the night shifts. But that cross they're issued at graduation that they have to bear sounds pretty heavy, at least to hear them talk about it. Also, there are a lot of gross tasks in the job description.

If I was doing it all over again and for some reason decided I was going to work in healthcare, but not be a doctor, I'd look at being a perfusionist. That's a pretty cool job for a master's degree. It wasn't even on my radar as an undergrad.

Yep. More like $40 k IF you are lucky.

LMGTFY

 

[Mr.S]

In Kentucky nurses can expect to start above $45K and quickly go above $60K. They're paid incredibly well for their education.

I just googled it. lexington ky nurse makes 65K and thats 36 hours. THats fresh out of school. Put in some OT, you are hovering at 100k.
Sort of like PA or NJ State troopers. They start at 45K but the real cash is in the OT. They all make over 100k

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I just googled it. lexington ky nurse makes 65K and thats 36 hours. THats fresh out of school. Put in some OT, you are hovering at 100k.
Sort of like PA or NJ State troopers. They start at 45K but the real cash is in the OT. They all make over 100k

Yeah. Not sure about NJ but starting salary for PA state troopers after graduation is $60k. With bonuses and stuff, it goes up to about $75k and can easily hit over 100k if you start doing overtime and volunteer for extra duties.

 

[deleted50478]

Eh. I think you are probably mostly right but I know some nurses who did very well in college and went to nursing due to personal experiences with it. My wife included. She had a 3.9 in undergrad and chose nursing because she volunteered with hospice and got intrigued. She ended up doing heme/onc and a lot of her co workers chose nursing because they had cancer as kids and really connected with the nursing staff.

Sorry to post on here. I lurk a lot because the specialty interests me, but I just wanted to share a slightly different perspective.

I’m sure some podiatrists just love feet too.

As they say, the exception proves the rule.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I’m sure some podiatrists just love feet too.

As they say, the exception proves the rule.

Hence the first sentence in my post.

 

[deleted50478]

Hence the first sentence in my post.

 

[vector2]

I like anesthesiology. I think it's going to keep working out OK for me.

I think I'd have been miserable as a nurse. The pay and job security is pretty good for a bachelor's degree. Three 12s per week sounds OK, except for the night shifts. But that cross they're issued at graduation that they have to bear sounds pretty heavy, at least to hear them talk about it. Also, there are a lot of gross tasks in the job description.

If I was doing it all over again and for some reason decided I was going to work in healthcare, but not be a doctor, I'd look at being a perfusionist. That's a pretty cool job for a master's degree. It wasn't even on my radar as an undergrad.

Perfusionist and medical physicist for rad onc office are the best kept secret jobs in healthcare.

 

[Cryc_to_the_point]

I just googled it. lexington ky nurse makes 65K and thats 36 hours. THats fresh out of school. Put in some OT, you are hovering at 100k.
Sort of like PA or NJ State troopers. They start at 45K but the real cash is in the OT. They all make over 100k

Yeah I air on the low side in estimates but I dated one of these cross bearers for a time and at the university hospital she was raking it in... oh and 3 12's is just so exhausting. We just don't understand...

 

[Gern Blansten]

Eh. I think you are probably mostly right but I know some nurses who did very well in college and went to nursing due to personal experiences with it. My wife included. She had a 3.9 in undergrad and chose nursing because she volunteered with hospice and got intrigued. She ended up doing heme/onc and a lot of her co workers chose nursing because they had cancer as kids and really connected with the nursing staff.

Sorry to post on here. I lurk a lot because the specialty interests me, but I just wanted to share a slightly different perspective.

The thing nobody ever mentions is that nurses typically take the science classes for non science majors. The biology/chem/physics etc are way different for pre meds. These are the weed out classes. None of the nursing majors at my college stepped foot in any of those types of classes. The sciences they took were the watered down classes.
No offense to your wife and I am sure she is quite bright (she must be to achieve such a GPA), but we are not comparing apples to apples.

 

[Kevin Durant]

Yeah I air on the low side in estimates but I dated one of these cross bearers for a time and at the university hospital she was raking it in... oh and 3 12's is just so exhausting. We just don't understand...

<150k or raking it in. Choose one.
I would be tempted to quit medicine for a $150k salary, 36 hours a week job.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

The thing nobody ever mentions is that nurses typically take the science classes for non science majors. The biology/chem/physics etc are way different for pre meds. These are the weed out classes. None of the nursing majors at my college stepped foot in any of those types of classes. The sciences they took were the watered down classes.
No offense to your wife and I am sure she is quite bright (she must be to achieve such a GPA), but we are not comparing apples to apples.

Oh I agree with you. She got her bachelors in something else first and then went back and did an accelerated BSN so that doesn’t really apply to her. But I totally agree (and so would she).

 

[nimbus]

<150k or raking it in. Choose one.
I would be tempted to quit medicine for a $150k salary, 36 hours a week job.

But it makes no sense to quit medicine. Many anesthesiologists HAVE cut back to 36 hours or less and make much more than $150k. Even the crappiest anesthesia jobs pay more than $100/hr.

As for nurse salaries......

'Nurse' search results | Transparent California

 

[chocomorsel]

Well down here in the south they are making like 60k. I guess depending on OT they can hit 100.
But yes, being an RN is not a bad deal at all.

 

[Modanq]

midlevels have a higher rate of complications...we all see it. It may not translate into the current studies or is presented, but ignored, at the suit meetings but we all know it. The studies are not powered or oriented to detect the differences. The blown art line attempt, the attempt at an art line in a pt who didn't need one, the excessive transfusions of fluid, the 9 pm "failed extubation" sent to the ICU for recovery, the OR MI that wasn't detected , the excess narcotics, the missed block attempt since the RNs thinks it's a go after a weekend course...

That's why we are becoming firefighters. The problem is these near-events dont translate into a mortality difference, or a cost difference that is perceptible yet...

I always advocate the higher road. Why roll around in the mud with the RNs as an MDs and have licenses to practice freely. At some point anesthesiologist figured let's do TEE, why not the same for intraoperative monitoring, vascular access ports, ECMO, ICU, TEE, interventional pain, Blocks and straight general Anesthesia. The problem is we sit there and teach our replacements. How many of us let the CRNAs intubate, place lines, run the anesthesia...
There are RNs out there literally picking up TEE probes and making rough roads o. The images.
Why is it frowned upon when I just want to do all the procedures myself.

We should cut the cord. Let the better service win out. But that doesn't mean- you crna intubate while I push meds and take the blame. Sure it might take a year or two in the optho room or GI suite to see that Brady arrest, or failed MAC arrest. And in the main OR just a few months but it will shake out. Im pretty sure if the anesthesiologists in this country just left the ACT and went rogue by actually practicing medicine instead of being a glorified nursing supervisor all the screw ups we patch every single day will come to the light pretty quickly.

 

[Mr.S]

midlevels have a higher rate of complications...we all see it. It may not translate into the current studies or is presented, but ignored, at the suit meetings but we all know it. The studies are not powered or oriented to detect the differences. The blown art line attempt, the attempt at an art line in a pt who didn't need one, the excessive transfusions of fluid, the 9 pm "failed extubation" sent to the ICU for recovery, the OR MI that wasn't detected , the excess narcotics, the missed block attempt since the RNs thinks it's a go after a weekend course...

That's why we are becoming firefighters. The problem is these near-events dont translate into a mortality difference, or a cost difference that is perceptible yet...

I always advocate the higher road. Why roll around in the mud with the RNs as an MDs and have licenses to practice freely. At some point anesthesiologist figured let's do TEE, why not the same for intraoperative monitoring, vascular access ports, ECMO, ICU, TEE, interventional pain, Blocks and straight general Anesthesia. The problem is we sit there and teach our replacements. How many of us let the CRNAs intubate, place lines, run the anesthesia...
There are RNs out there literally picking up TEE probes and making rough roads o. The images.
Why is it frowned upon when I just want to do all the procedures myself.

We should cut the cord. Let the better service win out. But that doesn't mean- you crna intubate while I push meds and take the blame. Sure it might take a year or two in the optho room or GI suite to see that Brady arrest, or failed MAC arrest. And in the main OR just a few months but it will shake out. Im pretty sure if the anesthesiologists in this country just left the ACT and went rogue by actually practicing medicine instead of being a glorified nursing supervisor all the screw ups we patch every single day will come to the light pretty quickly.

At every academic institution, there are wed meetings or monday or friday. Whenever they are.. Are the CRNAs invited? There is your answer right there.. This is above your paygrade. The chairmen of the academic departments can put an end to this immediately but they would rather play politics than solve problems. Uninvite all nursing personell including CRNAs from the conferences. They have their own, we have our own.
Every academic dept shoulr have a AA school to replace the CRNAs.

Fighting with the CRNAs int he rooms is ridiculous. Be civil with them. There is no reason not to be. Take ownership of the patients, give them breaks. Be places when they dont expect y ou. Not to surprise them but to show you are involved with your patient.

 

[ProRealDoc]

Now this is where I always want to know people’s thinking. The part of tiny flyover hospitals most docs don’t want to work in.
Now why is that really? Are we as doctors really different in the ways we live? We must be in the city, in a large hospital and not the tiny flyover hospital? Why would doctors not want to work at the tiny flyover hospital? I really would like to know where this comes from?

I'd say that the level of acuity at those tiny is such that any warm body can fumble their way through the cases with few, if any, complications. Most admins would not want to pay the premium to have a physician on site and would accept the risk of using midlevels. The same model is already permeating primary care.

 

[gshocke]

I don’t know if it was mentioned yet but I think a high percentage of those regrets probably come from those who never wanted to do anesthesia to begin with. Anesthesia pathology and gen surgery are large “back up specialities”. Lots of egotistic ex-ENT, Neurosurg scramblers go into those specialities

 

[T-burglar]

Yes it drives me crazy how much of our specialty is made up of people who were forced into it because they couldn't obtain a residency in the specialty they actually wanted, or they heard anesthesia was on the ROAD.

How many of you guys doing cardiac and other heavy cases like complex aortas feel threatened by CRNAs? At my shop, the surgeons and interventionalists would eat pretty much any nurse anesthetist alive because they demand high performance. My small private cardiac group has discussed how we could incorporate a CRNA or two to cover the increasing demands of the cath lab but we keep thinking it would be a cluster because we doubt the CRNAs could function on the heavier cases. On any day where I'm exclusively doing cardiac, structural, or aortas, I otherwise frequently don't even remember that CRNAs even exist. I am biased but I think these areas of anesthesia are where we need to focus as a specialty. Which will be to the chagrin of people who wanted a ROAD experience.

 

[Moose A Moose]

One of my med school friends switched out of anesthesia when she realized she couldn’t wear nice clothes at work.

 

[sevoflurane]

@sevoflurane, who does your CCM? Kinda thinking of moving back west. Miss the liberalism and no state taxes.

We staff one hospital and soon to be another. Main hospital in town is staffed by plum/CC.

 

[Man o War]

Yes it drives me crazy how much of our specialty is made up of people who were forced into it because they couldn't obtain a residency in the specialty they actually wanted, or they heard anesthesia was on the ROAD.

How many of you guys doing cardiac and other heavy cases like complex aortas feel threatened by CRNAs? At my shop, the surgeons and interventionalists would eat pretty much any nurse anesthetist alive because they demand high performance. My small private cardiac group has discussed how we could incorporate a CRNA or two to cover the increasing demands of the cath lab but we keep thinking it would be a cluster because we doubt the CRNAs could function on the heavier cases. On any day where I'm exclusively doing cardiac, structural, or aortas, I otherwise frequently don't even remember that CRNAs even exist. I am biased but I think these areas of anesthesia are where we need to focus as a specialty. Which will be to the chagrin of people who wanted a ROAD experience.

Absolutely.
But I don’t want to concede “lower risk” type operations because the last thing I want is a solo CRNA for my THA or colonoscopy sedation.
I have literally had nightmares about that scenario. I guess after you spend so many years watching their eff ups it becomes a paralyzing enough fear to disrupt your sleep.

 

[Kevin Durant]

Yes it drives me crazy how much of our specialty is made up of people who were forced into it because they couldn't obtain a residency in the specialty they actually wanted, or they heard anesthesia was on the ROAD.

How many of you guys doing cardiac and other heavy cases like complex aortas feel threatened by CRNAs? At my shop, the surgeons and interventionalists would eat pretty much any nurse anesthetist alive because they demand high performance. My small private cardiac group has discussed how we could incorporate a CRNA or two to cover the increasing demands of the cath lab but we keep thinking it would be a cluster because we doubt the CRNAs could function on the heavier cases. On any day where I'm exclusively doing cardiac, structural, or aortas, I otherwise frequently don't even remember that CRNAs even exist. I am biased but I think these areas of anesthesia are where we need to focus as a specialty. Which will be to the chagrin of people who wanted a ROAD experience.

Are you really advocating for giving up low risk, high reward cream of the crop cases to nurses while generously leaving anesthesiologists with higher risk, poor outcome cases? Why don't I buy you the gun to shoot me with too?

 

[3053222]

To average 90k as a regular nurse is unheard of (at least in most areas...), however...

Could you spend two years or so becoming a specialized nurse in a particular field such as PICU/OR/ER/CVTICU and apply for other state nursing boards to license as a nurse and contract out to other states for astronomically higher than average billing rates and make 150k+ as an RN? Yes, that possibility does exist.

As for pursuing higher education, yes all majors should be paid given what the market will bear for it. Unfortunately, that results in some occupations gaining higher salaries than others.

I think some are misinformed about CRNA's are their scopes of practice in most situations. They are taught to provide independent care of an Anesthesiologist, whether or not their educational/academic rigor regarding the schooling about Anesthesia is up for debate (to give that level of autonomous practice.) However, most CRNAs work under the supervision of an MD- whether said MD is a surgeon, dentist, or anesthesiologist is once again, dependent on the occupation they chose to work under. There are exceptions to this rule, but that is how the laws have regulated their practice.

Whether one chooses to become an MD or a nurse is a question that only the individual can answer for themselves. If money is the motivator, then neither quite frankly are good options however these occupations historically pay comparatively well in regards to most professions. Questions such as "do you have family?" "what kind of lifestyle do you want to live?" "how comfortable are you with student loans" "what kind of scope of practice do you want to provide?" "what support system do you have" are the main questions one should ask before going into either field.

To answer the OP's statements, Anesthesiology has its newfound downsides. Being unaware of the politics and the day-to-day operations and changing environments play significant roles in their regrets. I think all would fare better as pre-meds, medical, and even residents, of pros and cons of the specialties available to them.