Future competitiveness?

[GumBougie]

Do you think anesthesiology will continue to become more competitive or less competitive?

Just wondering what your thoughts were

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[supahfresh]

Both. It will become more competitive and then less competitive as it has cycled over time.

 

[2ndyear]

I think we hit the high water-mark last year. We'll be in a downward slide for a while now. Why? Primary care payments are going up, EM is hugely popular, and people are going back into general surgery again at record pace. Not to mention everyone from the ASA to us little folk here paint a doom and gloom picutre for the future of anesthesia as a medical specialty.

We had a residency spot open up last year. Apparently there were literally hundreds of people scrambling for a shot in. Mostly IMG's, mostly already trained. They'll do anything for a US spot. They'll work for less than we will. My point is that, while it's nice for PD's and chairs to fill spots with US applicants, they really don't have much to worry about in terms of filling. Programs will continue to fill up even if no US grads go into anesthesia.

 

[joker]

What do you mean by a "doom and gloom" future of anesthesia? from what i understand, as a procedure oriented specialty and increasing numbers of surgeries, the outlook for anesthesia is excellent. am i off base?

 

[urgewrx]

What do you mean by a "doom and gloom" future of anesthesia? from what i understand, as a procedure oriented specialty and increasing numbers of surgeries, the outlook for anesthesia is excellent. am i off base?

You might need some prescription glasses, dude.

 

[joker]

You might need some prescription glasses, dude.

thanks for that insightful information. im at a big medical center and spoken with the chairman at length about this issue and it seems to not exactly be true. while we may not be making 400k anymore, 250 is still a very good income (except for those of you who are doing this solely for the cash flow) for most of us.

anyway, just wanted to get some info. no smart ass replies needed. thanks.

 

[urgewrx]

thanks for that insightful information.

Glad I was helpful to you.

 

[2ndyear]

thanks for that insightful information. im at a big medical center and spoken with the chairman at length about this issue and it seems to not exactly be true. while we may not be making 400k anymore, 250 is still a very good income (except for those of you who are doing this solely for the cash flow) for most of us.

anyway, just wanted to get some info. no smart ass replies needed. thanks.

Sure, 250 is a lot of cash. So is 200, heck even 150 is 3 times what I make now. But it's damn stressful too. At some point the risks outweigh the rewards, and the nights and weekends.

 

[urgewrx]

Sure, 250 is a lot of cash. So is 200, heck even 150 is 3 times what I make now. But it's damn stressful too. At some point the risks outweigh the rewards, and the nights and weekends.

200 is my threshold. A perfusionist with a bachelor's makes around a 100 working less than 40hr/wk.

 

[BlackSails]

thanks for that insightful information. im at a big medical center and spoken with the chairman at length about this issue and it seems to not exactly be true. while we may not be making 400k anymore, 250 is still a very good income (except for those of you who are doing this solely for the cash flow) for most of us.

anyway, just wanted to get some info. no smart ass replies needed. thanks.

How does the pay for general anaesthesia compare to cardiac or neuro anesthesia?

 

[2ndyear]

Same. Nobody really does neuro fellowships unless they want to stay at an academic place and make a name in a niche field or become department director. People do cardiac fellowships and might have a little leg up in the job market if a place needs a heart person, or the starting pay might be a little more from what I've heard. Big advantage here is you have TEE to offer. The fellowships that are ACGME accredited all give you a little something that most general people will shy away from: Peds you get NICU babies and 'sick' complex kids, hearts gets you TEE, pain gets you blocks and clinic exposure. Other fellowships include neuro, OB, regional, ambulatory, even 'advanced clinical'.

 

[burntcrispy]

To the OP:

The competativeness tends to go up and down over time. I personally think it will remain fairly high with the new generation of students looking for more lifestyle oriented jobs. But "competativeness" is all relative. Anesthesia is only moderately competative as far as residencies go. If you are an average med student with average board scores you will have no problem getting into a program. (except for some of the more elite programs of course) It is definately nothing like Ortho, Derm, Plastics, etc. Just find what you like and go with that. Nobody knows what the future will hold for any specialty. There is "doom and gloom" with almost any specialty out there. If you read enough of this stuff you will end up wearing a tin foil hat after a while

Good luck.