"Anesthesiologists aren't MDs..."

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I had this exchange with a patient a few months ago

Patient: "How long does it take become an anesthesiologist?"
Me "4 years college, 4 years medical school, and 4 years for an anesthesiology residency."
Patient "So, that takes as long as a doctor?"
Me "I am a doctor."
Patient "But you're an anesthesiologist..."
 
Wait until the CRNAs start wearing their DNP lab coats around the hospital. "I'm an anesthesia nurse with a doctorate in anesthesia and all the studies show I'm just as good as an Anesthesiologist."
 
This is why I always introduce myself as the anesthesia physician or anesthesia doctor. Remove any confusion or doubt when it comes to your education or role in their care.
 
I heard a holding room nurse tell a patient "the doctors and anesthesia will be out to see you soon" the other day.

This is why I always introduce myself as "Dr. Lightwand, the anesthesiologist that will be taking care of you today."
 
Frazier said:
I haven't heard that with my own ears, but it is more than feasible for a layman to make that mistake...

Along with individuals thinking:

psychiatrists aren't MDs, but rather are psychologists/therapists.
radiologists didn't graduate from med school, but rather community college (i.e. rad techs).
ophthalmologists aren't MDs, but rather the same thing as optometrists.

I'm sure there are plenty that have no idea what a urologist is, or an endocrinologist...let alone an Otorhinolaryngologist.

If you want universal awareness among all the general (uninformed) public, you'd likely need to have the word surgeon in your title somewhere.
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My wife (radiology resident) gets the rad tech thing all the time. I would also add female physicians of any specialty getting called nurse at a not infrequent clip.

I don't want to come across as the stuffy, holier-than-thou type, and I would love to introduce myself to patients by my first name and have them understand my role and level of training, but it just doesn't work that way in real life.

So, I always introduce myself as Dr. WholeLottaGame.
 
BLADEMDA said:
Wait until the CRNAs start wearing their DNP lab coats around the hospital. "I'm an anesthesia nurse with a doctorate in anesthesia and all the studies show I'm just as good as an Anesthesiologist."
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At my medical school/home hospital, EVERYONE wears a long white coat: doctors, nurses, techs, administrative assistants, pharmacy, PT, psychology, risk management... even 1st year medical students (can't lie- it was pretty awesome when I first matriculated, now I can't stand the damn thing). It's impossible to tell on sight who is a doctor and who isn't, and it's kind of a problem. I swear, I saw the secretary for one of our faculty members walking around the other day in a coat labeled "Nivens McTwisp, Internal Medicine".

The rationale I've heard from administration is it's comforting for patients to see so many white coats around...
 
WholeLottaGame7 said:
I don't want to come across as the stuffy, holier-than-thou type, and I would love to introduce myself to patients by my first name and have them understand my role and level of training, but it just doesn't work that way in real life.
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I go with my first name, followed by my profession.

Hello, my name is Bill, and I'm one of the doctors on the anesthesia team. You'll meet Dr Attending, who will be taking care of you and someone else. I'll be the doctor in the room with you keeping you safe and comfortable while the surgery doctors cut you.

For white coats, they're rarely white and very disgusting.
 
This stopped bothering me a long time ago. After I introduce myself "hi I'm dr bigeyedfish, I'm your anesthesiologist." A reaction I hear too often is "oh my niece/son/granddaughter does that. They're in crna school." I usually just say "that's wonderful."

For some reason it bothers me more that people think all I do is keep people asleep. When patients say "oh you're the guy that's going to keep me asleep." I usually reply, "that's one of the things I do. I'm also going to keep you alive." Their eyes get big and they are no nonsense after that. But I'm just being honest.
 
I really don't care what the patient thinks I do or who I am. If the crna meets the patient first I usually tell the patient that I'm there to help out. Whatev.
 
OMG! STOP THE PRESSES!!



It turns out someone just determined that Americans are stupid AND misinformed!
 
I go with "I'm Doctor IPASSGAS with anesthesia. Steve/Becky is the nurse anesthetist. We work together to keep you safe." And "my daughter could put you to sleep. Waking you up again is the tricky part."
 
bigeyedfish said:
For some reason it bothers me more that people think all I do is keep people asleep. When patients say "oh you're the guy that's going to keep me asleep." I usually reply, "that's one of the things I do. I'm also going to keep you alive." Their eyes get big and they are no nonsense after that. But I'm just being honest.
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I had a conversation yesterday with a Vascular Surg PA who asked me why I was doing an ICU elective and was taken aback when I told him anesthesiologists can run ICUs and do pain medicine. True story, and he's actually pretty good at what he does, so this surprised me.

My elderly population can't get over that I'm not a nurse. But that's just age and gender roles mixed in LOL.
 
How do you physicians not get pissed off? How can the populace not know that anesthesia is one of the more competitive fields in medicine?
 
wjs010 said:
How do you physicians not get pissed off? How can the populace not know that anesthesia is one of the more competitive fields in medicine?
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In anesthesia there is no admiration or respect. We knew that going into the field... And quite frankly I don't care what some random nurse or jim the janitor thinks.

Want to tell you where I see my respect? In my paycheck.
 
RxBoy said:
In anesthesia there is no admiration or respect. We knew that going into the field... And quite frankly I don't care what some random nurse or jim the janitor thinks.

Want to tell you where I see my respect? In my paycheck.
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Which is not under pressure?🙄
 
WholeLottaGame7 said:
My wife (radiology resident) gets the rad tech thing all the time. I would also add female physicians of any specialty getting called nurse at a not infrequent clip.

I don't want to come across as the stuffy, holier-than-thou type, and I would love to introduce myself to patients by my first name and have them understand my role and level of training, but it just doesn't work that way in real life.

So, I always introduce myself as Dr. WholeLottaGame.
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I am a guy and I get confused for a nurse. I counted 3 times yesterday. Heck my barber saw me in scrubs and asked me if I was a tech or nurse at the hospital.
 
dr doze said:
Which is not under pressure?🙄
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Which is why I work 3 jobs make in the mid 6 figures (and still have plenty of free time as a single bachelor). 1040 main job with all the fringe benefits, 1099 the other 2 with all the tax benefits. Investing my money among multiple assets to safegaurd against a halt in the gravy train. I work hard everyday. I hustle everyday. Never ask to leave early, never complain, never make anyone wait for me.

You know who notices? The surgeons. You know who respects me? The surgeons.

My point to all this is that we are a service field. We're not saving the whales or fixing world hunger... So I don't give a flying f*ck what some hospital employee thinks of me. I really don't care if the pt admires me. All I care is that the pt trusts me, and the employees don't impede on my ability to do my job. The paycheck is where I'm rewarded. Want glory? Go into family practice.
 
keyword: bachelor.

I guess there are two paths that define every physician, the ones who put work first and those who dont. Nobody really knows who's gonna be who.
Just wait for the midde life crisis when sitting on your money pile, and think damn it, what am i doing.
 
RxBoy said:
Which is why I work 3 jobs make in the mid 6 figures (and still have plenty of free time as a single bachelor). 1040 main job with all the fringe benefits, 1099 the other 2 with all the tax benefits. Investing my money among multiple assets to safegaurd against a halt in the gravy train. I work hard everyday. I hustle everyday. Never ask to leave early, never complain, never make anyone wait for me.

You know who notices? The surgeons. You know who respects me? The surgeons.

My point to all this is that we are a service field. We're not saving the whales or fixing world hunger... So I don't give a flying f*ck what some hospital employee thinks of me. I really don't care if the pt admires me. All I care is that the pt trusts me, and the employees don't impede on my ability to do my job. The paycheck is where I'm rewarded. Want glory? Go into family practice.
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Supply and demand, the stroke of a few legislative and administrative pens (the CRNAs winning their agenda), good marketing, and all your hard work will be devalued economically. The surgeons and administrators may recognize the difference, but they may not pay up for it for much longer. Second or third best may be good enough. Of course they will never call it second best. Just sweep the uptick in bad outcomes under the rug.
 
RxBoy said:
Which is why I work 3 jobs make in the mid 6 figures (and still have plenty of free time as a single bachelor). 1040 main job with all the fringe benefits, 1099 the other 2 with all the tax benefits. Investing my money among multiple assets to safegaurd against a halt in the gravy train. I work hard everyday. I hustle everyday. Never ask to leave early, never complain, never make anyone wait for me.

You know who notices? The surgeons. You know who respects me? The surgeons.

My point to all this is that we are a service field. We're not saving the whales or fixing world hunger... So I don't give a flying f*ck what some hospital employee thinks of me. I really don't care if the pt admires me. All I care is that the pt trusts me, and the employees don't impede on my ability to do my job. The paycheck is where I'm rewarded. Want glory? Go into family practice.
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I like your attitude. You are a no bull**** doc. You remind me of my brother who is a surgeon, and yes, we were talking about it last night. He can't believe the ground that crna's are making. Keep busting your ass. As an anesthesia doc making that much these days, you are obviously doing it right. Kudos
 
Why are there so many insecure anesthesiologists posting on SDN? Every few months I just check in on this topic and it's almost always the same sentiment of CRNAs taking over and nobody respecting you. If you want to act like a CRNA then you'll compete and be viewed as a CRNA. If you want to do heart transplants, NICU babies, run ICUs, treat chronic pain conditions, etc., then I cannot believe you will having anything to fear and will always have respect from the lay-population and virtually every healthcare provider.
 
Last edited:
Why do you assume people are insecure, versus just being right? 😉
 
LeverArm said:
Why are there so many insecure anesthesiologists posting on SDN? Every few months I just check in on this topic and it's almost always the same sentiment of CRNAs taking over and nobody respecting you. If you want to act like a CRNA then you'll compete and be viewed as a CRNA. If you want to do heart transplants, NICU babies, run ICUs, treat chronic pain conditions, etc., then I cannot believe you will having anything to fear and will always have respect from the lay-population and virtually every healthcare provider.
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I'm not worried.
 
IlDestriero said:
I'm not worried.
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Agreed. I was just shocked to see that it's a common place thing.

My favorite line from an M4 colleague (ended up doing general surgery) who saw me reading anesthesiology case files... "Is there even enough material to make a case files book on anesthesiology?"

Chuckles. I guess I used to be the same way, I thought it was as easy as prop, sux, tube. Yeah... the more I read, the more I see.... I'm terrified of the day when the buck stops with me. Anesthesia was this happy place, where you took away pain and made surgery possible... then came my first difficult airway... amongst other things. That's when I understood what the word vigilance meant in anesthesia.
 
For someone who went into general surgery that is a bit disconcerting. He should at least know that keeping a pt down is like flying a plane, ffs
 
I gotta be honest with you dude, when I
initially hit private practice, the subject we're speaking of really bothered me. I quickly acclimated to apathy on the subject, however, since I'm
* Comfortable in my own skin
* Last time I checked, there's an MD degree all pretty and framed in my closet (LOL)
* Where I work, Doctors run the hospital
* I make more money in TWO WEEKS than I did in A YEAR as a professional firefighter in 1984 (I worked for the fire department for 2 years a long time ago)
* I love my job

SOOOOOOO
I'll leave the worries and the D i ck Swinging to people and doctors who worry about the irrelevant, and I'll keep waking up spontaneously before my alarm clock goes off at 0520 and go to work and enjoy my day!!!!!
 
jetproppilot said:
I'll keep waking up spontaneously before my alarm clock goes off at 0520 and go to work and enjoy my day!!!!!
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I sleep in until about 0620 but I'm with you in spirit. 🙂

I love the job. I make enough money. I have few worries about my personal professional future (I still donate to ASAPAC).
 
RxBoy said:
Which is why I work 3 jobs make in the mid 6 figures (and still have plenty of free time as a single bachelor). 1040 main job with all the fringe benefits, 1099 the other 2 with all the tax benefits. Investing my money among multiple assets to safegaurd against a halt in the gravy train. I work hard everyday. I hustle everyday. Never ask to leave early, never complain, never make anyone wait for me.

You know who notices? The surgeons. You know who respects me? The surgeons.

My point to all this is that we are a service field. We're not saving the whales or fixing world hunger... So I don't give a flying f*ck what some hospital employee thinks of me. I really don't care if the pt admires me. All I care is that the pt trusts me, and the employees don't impede on my ability to do my job. The paycheck is where I'm rewarded. Want glory? Go into family practice.
Click to expand...

Great, great post by a dude that has
The Secret
Figured out.
Service Industry.
Big bucks.
Fun job.
Leave the Dick Swinging to someone else.
Beautifully said, dude.
 
Till you wake up one morning and find that the world has changed.
Only the paranoid survive.
 
last week of my surgery rotation.. I am absolutely over it. I liked it at first, more than I thought I would, but Im so done with it now. Im tired of all the super A+++ types, especially the first assist PA's and NP's. Im just over it, there's no way I could make it 5 years doing that stuff and a fellowship would be completely out of the question. To top it off today, I was asked what I was interested in and I said anesthesia, and then of all people the circulating nurse shouts out, "what?? I thought you wanted to be a real doctor." Spare me woman...
 
jetproppilot said:
Leave the Dick Swinging to someone else.
Click to expand...

I let it swing when live the life I want to because my job affords me the TIME and MONEY to do so. My job satisfaction is internal. When I take that sick ass mofo and keep them alive for the ****ty surgeon to spend 4 extra hours doing the case compared to their kick ass colleague, I know I did a good job. I don't need their sorry ass to tell me so. And when the PACU nurses see **** hitting the fan and come find me so I can make everything better...makes me smile on the inside.


People that need somebody else telling them how awesome they are should probably go into acting for a career.
 
IkeBoy18 said:
last week of my surgery rotation.. I am absolutely over it. I liked it at first, more than I thought I would, but Im so done with it now. Im tired of all the super A+++ types, especially the first assist PA's and NP's. Im just over it, there's no way I could make it 5 years doing that stuff and a fellowship would be completely out of the question. To top it off today, I was asked what I was interested in and I said anesthesia, and then of all people the circulating nurse shouts out, "what?? I thought you wanted to be a real doctor." Spare me woman...
Click to expand...
As one of my favorite (trauma) surgeons used to say to his residents: the brains are on the other side of the drape.

+1 what Mman said.
 
IkeBoy18 said:
last week of my surgery rotation.. I am absolutely over it. I liked it at first, more than I thought I would, but Im so done with it now. Im tired of all the super A+++ types, especially the first assist PA's and NP's. Im just over it, there's no way I could make it 5 years doing that stuff and a fellowship would be completely out of the question. To top it off today, I was asked what I was interested in and I said anesthesia, and then of all people the circulating nurse shouts out, "what?? I thought you wanted to be a real doctor." Spare me woman...
Click to expand...
you could choose better fields than anesthesia to keep away from all that bs.
 
Kahreek said:
you could choose better fields than anesthesia to keep away from all that bs.
Click to expand...

I havent encountered on so far that gives me the satisfaction. IM was hell on earth...has to be hands on.. not via IM and not surgery. What does that leave me? Im open for suggestions
 
IlDestriero said:
IR
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I was actually gung ho IR before I came to medical school and for the first almost 2 years, and actually have the connections to guarantee myself a spot in a good program. The problem is that I wont love the first 5 years of residency and I am not that excited about reading images. Not sure if I can force myself to love the diagnostic rads part.
 
IkeBoy18 said:
last week of my surgery rotation.. I am absolutely over it. I liked it at first, more than I thought I would, but Im so done with it now. Im tired of all the super A+++ types, especially the first assist PA's and NP's. Im just over it, there's no way I could make it 5 years doing that stuff and a fellowship would be completely out of the question. To top it off today, I was asked what I was interested in and I said anesthesia, and then of all people the circulating nurse shouts out, "what?? I thought you wanted to be a real doctor." Spare me woman...
Click to expand...
Holy crap. How do you even respond to that? The ego in a lot of us what make us get pissed at that bitchy comment, but of course the intention was to fluster you, so the best thing to do is troll her with a subtle , passive aggressive comment. Lol I'm kidding but it does sound funny
 
Never argue with idiots; this includes most of the people with less education than yours.

Many times there is an IQ reason, and not a financial reason, why you are a doctor and s/he is not.
 
Mman said:
I let it swing when live the life I want to because my job affords me the TIME and MONEY to do so. My job satisfaction is internal. When I take that sick ass mofo and keep them alive for the ****ty surgeon to spend 4 extra hours doing the case compared to their kick ass colleague, I know I did a good job. I don't need their sorry ass to tell me so. And when the PACU nurses see **** hitting the fan and come find me so I can make everything better...makes me smile on the inside.


People that need somebody else telling them how awesome they are should probably go into acting for a career.
Click to expand...

You win the thread. GGWP sir.
 
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