Leadership/Alternative Positions of the Anesthesiologist

[docr3]

Hi Everybody,

Recently accepted to medical school, and pretty set on going into anesthesia. Have done extensive shadowing and I love it. I know the CRNA issue is a big thing, and I don't want to start another debate on this topic, but of course it is a concern for me going into anesthesia in the future. To combat a threat to my ability to make a living, I am planning on doing an MBA and a fellowship in either cardio or pain to ensure my services are valued/irreplaceable by mid-levels. I am wondering what other kind of roles an anesthesiologist often has, and how easy it is for them to transition to these positions. Things like director of the OR, working in health care policy, etc. Thank you very much, and happy new year.

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[AdmiralChz]

Anesthesiologists are frequently in OR leadership, and from what I’ve seen almost always serve as main OR medical directors as it’s largely an administrative job. Everywhere I’ve been from medical school, residency, fellowship and even my PP next year has Anesthesiology representation at governing boards and councils. I know off hand of two Deans of Medicine of major US medical schools that are Anesthesiologists and our current Surgeon General is one.

So there is ample opportunity, although if you are interested in the policy arm I think an MPH would be more helpful than an MBA. If you are interested, the opportunities are absolutely there

That being said, one doesn’t finish residency/fellowship and just jump into a high level leadership position right away. The people I referenced above worked for years if not decades in their fields building up their CV and garnering experience.

 

[Mman]

That being said, one doesn’t finish residency/fellowship and just jump into a high level leadership position right away. The people I referenced above worked for years if not decades in their fields building up their CV and garnering experience.

Correct. It's a long slow slog to climb administrative ladders. Years of clinical and/or research experience and serving on various committees to build up your name in an institution before you start getting considered for higher up spots.

And it's hard to reconcile someone that enjoys the clinical work for years and decades then finding it enjoyable to hold a clipboard and sit in meetings all day since they are such different beasts.

 

[anbuitachi]

Hi Everybody,

Recently accepted to medical school, and pretty set on going into anesthesia. Have done extensive shadowing and I love it. I know the CRNA issue is a big thing, and I don't want to start another debate on this topic, but of course it is a concern for me going into anesthesia in the future. To combat a threat to my ability to make a living, I am planning on doing an MBA and a fellowship in either cardio or pain to ensure my services are valued/irreplaceable by mid-levels. I am wondering what other kind of roles an anesthesiologist often has, and how easy it is for them to transition to these positions. Things like director of the OR, working in health care policy, etc. Thank you very much, and happy new year.

I think it's easy to be involved but very difficult to attain a high position. It's going to take years of hard work and dedication and really showing value, and how you differ from your colleagues. You'll be surrounded by smart people, so standing out is even harder. We had one anesthesiologist land a high administrative position in the hospital here recently over last 10 years. He published tons of well cited papers , published books, etc etc.

 

[GA8314]

Plenty of opportunities to sit on committees and get involved. Granted many of those things are not compensated, but some may be. Because of the breadth of areas which we touch (OR, NORA, Endo, OB etc) there really are a ton of opportunities for anesthesiologists to get involved.

I agree with others in that administration and political stuff is sort of something which people seem to gravitate to or not. At least when they go far with it. So, they tend to have a passion for it. Currently, I get much more out of the clinical side, but get involved in other areas not so much because of true passion but rather it's necessary (or at least prudent) for groups to be involved in hospital politics/decision making.

 

[Beach bum]

Have had several docs I know attempt to make the transition to administration. I haven’t seen it work out yet. Totally different skill set required...

 

[Lecithin5]

Plenty of opportunities to sit on committees and get involved. Granted many of those things are not compensated, but some may be. Because of the breadth of areas which we touch (OR, NORA, Endo, OB etc) there really are a ton of opportunities for anesthesiologists to get involved.

I agree with others in that administration and political stuff is sort of something which people seem to gravitate to or not. At least when they go far with it. So, they tend to have a passion for it. Currently, I get much more out of the clinical side, but get involved in other areas not so much because of true passion but rather it's necessary (or at least prudent) for groups to be involved in hospital politics/decision making.

Exactly. The goal should be to be as involved as possible, even if we don’t enjoy it. The goal is to make us invaluable and indispensable. This is the unfortunate reality. We should take lessons from radiology: the successful groups, especially the ones that were able to tide the hard times from a few years ago, were often the ones that had their tentacles in administration (and more importantly, the ones that provided in-house 24-7 service!).