How competitive will Anesthesiology get?

[bigfrank]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hi,

I am having a hard time deciding whom to believe. There is a faction that essentially claims that anesthesiology is the next 'dermatology/radiology' in terms of competiveness while another faction claims that if you are 'average you can match somewhere.'

As someone who is *considering* anesthesiology, I think it might be beneficial for us to pull out heads together and surmise the trend of anesthesiology and how competitive it is likely to get in the next 2-5 years.

Can anyone help me out here? Please try to separate fact from personal opinions.

Thanks.

 

[amily]

It is quite simple. As long as the job market stays strong and starting salaries are high the competition for residency positions will continue to increase.

 

[Ratty]

I agree with oldandtired. I think the number of applicants will continue to rise and thus make it more competitive. However, my guess is that anesthesiology probably will never become as competitive as radiology, dermatology, etc., simply because residency programs in those specialties are much much smaller. There are usually just a handful of derm spots per hospital (or even city). I would say that the average anesthesia program is about 12-15 residents, the largest being around 30. (You can double-check this at <a href="http://www.grogono.com," target="_blank">www.grogono.com,</a> follow link to "anesthesia match" then hunt around). The most competitive specialties, like the ones you mentioned, are typically the ones with very few positions to begin with. While no one can predict trends in medicine very well (whatever happened to the "oversupply of specialists"? 🙂 , I think that in 2-5 years, anesthesiology will be similar to fields like psychiatry, IM, OB/GYN, etc.--- meaning, easy to match at an "OK" program if you are an average applicant, but very competitive for the "top" programs.

 

[DuneHog]

The number of anesthesia spots (1169) vs the number of radiology spots (920) is actually very similar. I would not be surprised if anesthesia becomes as competative as radiology in the next few years. That said, radiology is nowhere near as hard to match in as derm, for several reasons: 1) number of spots, as mentioned above
2) unmatch rate is higher for derm - see thread entitled "Step I for radiology" where the above poster lists unmatch rates
3) Purely my speculation, but I would guess that the caliber of the average derm applicant is significantly higher than the average radiology applicant.

 

[SUNYboy]

The problem with this whole process is that Med students are ALWAYS behind the times. I mean, for specialties like anesthesiology and radiology, students are guessing what the job market is like 5 to 6 years ahead. That is almost impossible. The funny thing is, by the time the students from the "competitive" years get out, the job market is usually worse. Meanwhile, the less stellar students who applied to these "easy" specialties, i.e. anes and rads 6 to 8 years ago, are reaping the benefits of the great job market. Ironic. 😀

 

[Goofy]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by bigfrank:
•Hi,

I am having a hard time deciding whom to believe. There is a faction that essentially claims that anesthesiology is the next 'dermatology/radiology' in terms of competiveness while another faction claims that if you are 'average you can match somewhere.'

As someone who is *considering* anesthesiology, I think it might be beneficial for us to pull out heads together and surmise the trend of anesthesiology and how competitive it is likely to get in the next 2-5 years.

Can anyone help me out here? Please try to separate fact from personal opinions.

Thanks.•••••Bigfrank,

I'm afraid you have been misinformed. While radiology is indeed one of the more competitive specialties, it is certainly not of the same caliber as derm. There is roughly 1000 radiology slots available, providing more than ample room for even many less than stellar applicants. As in any field, it is tough to enter the choice slots, but simply matching in radiology is fairly easy to do. The same can be said of Anesthesia, and EM. What makes Dermatology so difficult isn't the overwhelming interest. In fact Radiology, Anesthesia, EM all have more applicants. It is the absolute dearth of slots that makes it so hard to obtain. Radiology, Anesthesia, and EM all have tons and tons of slots to fill. The exceptionally difficult specialties to gain entrance into include derm and rad/onc and some surgical specialties.

 

[Goofy]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by SUNYboy:
•The problem with this whole process is that Med students are ALWAYS behind the times. I mean, for specialties like anesthesiology and radiology, students are guessing what the job market is like 5 to 6 years ahead. That is almost impossible. The funny thing is, by the time the students from the "competitive" years get out, the job market is usually worse. Meanwhile, the less stellar students who applied to these "easy" specialties, i.e. anes and rads 6 to 8 years ago, are reaping the benefits of the great job market. Ironic. 😀 •••••This is very insightful and precisely the reason applicants should choose a discipline that is personally gratifying. Prognosticating market dynamics is exceptionally difficult, especially with a 3-7 year horizon.

 

[amily]

Sunyboy,

I would MUCH rather practice radiology for a starting salary of 120,000 and a 7 year partnership tract than primary care or any surgical field.

Everyone works in the end. There were always jobs available in rads just not as attractive as they are now. The interest has always been there but in the mid 90s students who went into these fields were brain washed into thinking they were crazy. Damn, I hate those ivory tower academic primary care physicians.