MS3: Need Honest Advice

[NWwildcat2013]

I need some honest advice about this field. MS3 is upon me and the only specialty that has interested me so far is anesthesiology.

I enjoy research and would like to move forward with some in anesthesiology, but I get really spooked by doom and gloom whenever I come on this forum. Perhaps I will go through MS3 and find something that I never thought I'd fall in love with, but I think its more likely I remain neutral on everything else while still liking anesthesiology.

-I love the subject matter.
-I don't care about playing second fiddle to a surgeon.
-I like the OR but don't like surgery.
-I don't care about patient admiration.
-I prefer to not have "patients" in the way that FM or outpatient peds does.
-I like minor procedures but not surgery.
-I also like critical care and peds as potential fellowship pathways.

I'd be open to arguments in this thread or a PM (I could give more background on stats like Step score etc. if that affects your opinion) for either position. I also need to decide whether to delay one of my rotations to do a rotation in anesthesiology to get a better feel for the work and potentially get letters, so this issue has been weighing heavily on my mind.

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[deleted171991]

The forum is full of threads about the field and its future, both the doom and gloom and the decision part. What else do you want to know?

IMO, if you are considering anesthesiology, you should be so sure and so passionate about the field that whatever we say should not affect you. You should be like Michael Jordan when he figured out he was born to play basketball. That's how sure you have to be. Anything less, and there is a big chance you'll end up regretting your decision.

One of the easy ways to figure out what you like in medicine is to identify what you like to read about. Since so much of what makes a good doctor is knowledge and lifetime learning, one should really enjoy the subject to the level that it trumps a favorite novel, or Netflix etc. For example, I read some critical care at least 4 days a week, even if for only 20-30 minutes. Not because I have to, but because it's interesting. Anesthesia is also cool, but not all of it.

Also, people don't realize: one can't become an excellent anesthesiologist unless one is a decent internist. Otherwise a lot of CRNAs can do the same job. It's not the anesthesia part that's complicated, it's the co-existing disease part, and adjusting your anesthesia to it.

You also need to be a survivor. You need to be good at improvising on the spot, keeping your calm in face of imminent danger, when everybody panics. You really won't know if you are good at the latter until it's too late; that's how people get kicked out of anesthesia residencies, or end up being bad at their jobs.

Btw, your list sounds like mine, back when I had to choose a specialty.

 

[repititionition]

I feel the same way (rising M3).

my step 1 scores aren't back yet but practice scores put me at 250+. everyone tells me to do "something else" given that score (again, not in the bank yet), but I know that I don't want to own a patient panel OR be a surgeon. EM sounds good in theory but sucks in practice, from what I've seen. To hell with derm, etc.

Physiology and pharmacology are cool -- my favorite stuff because it's so logical and systematic -- I'm ok with subspecialization, and I get along best with anesthesiologists (internists tell me I have a surgical personality, but I could not and would not ever be the kind of surgeon that engenders that stereotype).

Bottom line, I think you've gotta do what you want to do. Cream rises, so work hard. The doom and gloom sucks, but enjoying the nuts and bolts of your daily work is worth a lot. This from someone with a successful prior career who bailed way late for medicine.

 

[Carbocation1]

I feel the same way (rising M3).

my step 1 scores aren't back yet but practice scores put me at 250+. everyone tells me to do "something else" given that score (again, not in the bank yet), but I know that I don't want to own a patient panel OR be a surgeon. EM sounds good in theory but sucks in practice, from what I've seen. To hell with derm, etc.

Physiology and pharmacology are cool -- my favorite stuff because it's so logical and systematic -- I'm ok with subspecialization, and I get along best with anesthesiologists (internists tell me I have a surgical personality, but I could not and would not ever be the kind of surgeon that engenders that stereotype).

Bottom line, I think you've gotta do what you want to do. Cream rises, so work hard. The doom and gloom sucks, but enjoying the nuts and bolts of your daily work is worth a lot. This from someone with a successful prior career who bailed way late for medicine.

I have a 250+ on Step 1 and feel the same way. People tell me to consider Derm , Surgi subs, rad onc, etc. but I feel most at home with the gas docs and I truly enjoy reading the anesthesiology literature. I love the acute pharm/phys - seems like medicine in its purest form to me. I also like IC/EP cards but I don't want to go through 8 years of training w/ 2 fellowships while kissing up to the fat cat cardiologists to eventually to get a job with heavy call and 2 weeks vaca. I didn't go into medicine to become a martyr.

 

[GravelRider]

Most people on here like the practice of anesthesia...including us doom and gloomers. The business or politics of anesthesia has become pretty unpalatable, though. All of medicine is heading in that direction, but anesthesia is just ahead of the curve...and the northeast of the United States is ahead of it the most. It's extraordinarily difficult to envision that as a med student. The physiology and all of that is interesting now, but eventually everything becomes somewhat routine and all you are left with is the frustration. A fellowship is probably becoming mandatory at this point.

 

[Consigliere]

Honest advice: choose another specialty or, better yet, get out of medicine all together.

 

[repititionition]

Honest advice: choose another specialty or, better yet, get out of medicine all together.

oops! I left the business side of healthcare to become a doctor!

one thought, though: the more anesthesiologists that try to talk strong students -- not only just in terms of academic horsepower but spine, leadership capacity, etc. -- out of the field, the more assured the decline of the specialty.

 

[repititionition]

Honest advice: choose another specialty or, better yet, get out of medicine all together.

But I'll bite. What else should I be?

IM: rounding sucks. social work = no. pathway to fellowship... too much BS along the way (I want to slit my wrists during outpatient medicine rotations, so let's knock FM off while we're at it) and many fellowships don't end the way the used to (see poster above re: cardiology). Cardiology: cool, but these guys look tired. Pulm: cool doctors, definitely my IM "people", but if I'm going to end up CCM trained I'd rather do it through anesthesiology to cut out all of the IM BS. GI: nah. Rheum/endo/allergy: no, no, and maybe, but still no.

EM: vague complaints, drug seeking, etc. suck. social work sucks (see above re: IM).

Surgery: not going to do it. No, not "even" urology or ENT. It's not for me.

OB: for REI or gyn-onc, maybe. But I'm not going to deal with the primary training to get there, and these are some of the most competitive fellowships in all of medicine.

Derm: low 250's isn't enough for derm, honestly, and I'm not going to take a year off to do research.... because dermatology is not interesting.

PM&R: I'd take anesthesiology at PM&R $ before PM&R at anesthesiology $. I envy people attracted to this specialty, because it has a lot of pros... but it's not for me.

Optho: can't do it because of vision stuff. Also exceedingly not interested.

Peds -> subspecialty has its attraction (my school is affiliated with an incredible children's hospital), but again... the primary training in peds would SUCK.

So with that, @Consigliere, what's a medical student to do? I think my answer is just keep on being a stud and try to right the ship when I'm out there in the real world. I'm not unaware of the trajectory of the specialty and of medicine in general. I was a consultant for a long time and my job was basically to make things suck for doctors. I get the battle. But you DO have to wake up and enjoy the work you do every day.

 

[BLADEMDA]

But I'll bite. What else should I be?

IM: rounding sucks. social work = no. pathway to fellowship... too much BS along the way (I want to slit my wrists during outpatient medicine rotations, so let's knock FM off while we're at it) and many fellowships don't end the way the used to (see poster above re: cardiology). Cardiology: cool, but these guys look tired. Pulm: cool doctors, definitely my IM "people", but if I'm going to end up CCM trained I'd rather do it through anesthesiology to cut out all of the IM BS. GI: nah. Rheum/endo/allergy: no, no, and maybe, but still no.

EM: vague complaints, drug seeking, etc. suck. social work sucks (see above re: IM).

Surgery: not going to do it. No, not "even" urology or ENT. It's not for me.

OB: for REI or gyn-onc, maybe. But I'm not going to deal with the primary training to get there, and these are some of the most competitive fellowships in all of medicine.

Derm: low 250's isn't enough for derm, honestly, and I'm not going to take a year off to do research.... because dermatology is not interesting.

PM&R: I'd take anesthesiology at PM&R $ before PM&R at anesthesiology $. I envy people attracted to this specialty, because it has a lot of pros... but it's not for me.

Optho: can't do it because of vision stuff. Also exceedingly not interested.

Peds -> subspecialty has its attraction (my school is affiliated with an incredible children's hospital), but again... the primary training in peds would SUCK.

So with that, @Consigliere, what's a medical student to do? I think my answer is just keep on being a stud and try to right the ship when I'm out there in the real world. I'm not unaware of the trajectory of the specialty and of medicine in general. I was a consultant for a long time and my job was basically to make things suck for doctors. I get the battle. But you DO have to wake up and enjoy the work you do every day.

Did you ever see the movie "Karate Kid"? I'm talking about the original version: "wax on, wax off" Sometimes you have to do the things you dislike to get to the things you want to be good at in life. In your case, it means dealing with 4-6 years of crap and even misery because the goal is worth it. So, if there is a specialty which you can see yourself doing for the next 20-30 years then no matter what the residency portion entails I firmly believe the sacrifice is worth it.

Look at the Navy Seals for example. Wouldn't it be great to be a member of the Seals? But, in order to be granted that honor/privilege one must go through a vigorous weeding out process leaving only a select few who actually become Seals.

Too many young Doctors want all the benefits of a specialty but aren't willing to put in the time, effort and pain necessary to achieve that goal. In summary, never view a specialty choice through the prism of the Residency process but rather understand the final goal of becoming that specialist for a lifetime is worth doing the Residency.

 

[BLADEMDA]

 

[BLADEMDA]

 

[Consigliere]

oops! I left the business side of healthcare to become a doctor!

one thought, though: the more anesthesiologists that try to talk strong students -- not only just in terms of academic horsepower but spine, leadership capacity, etc. -- out of the field, the more assured the decline of the specialty.

You assume the specialty isn't already dead. It is.

 

[Consigliere]

Funny how he was 23 years old in this movie and not really a "kid."

 

[GravelRider]

But I'll bite. What else should I be?

IM: rounding sucks. social work = no. pathway to fellowship... too much BS along the way (I want to slit my wrists during outpatient medicine rotations, so let's knock FM off while we're at it) and many fellowships don't end the way the used to (see poster above re: cardiology). Cardiology: cool, but these guys look tired. Pulm: cool doctors, definitely my IM "people", but if I'm going to end up CCM trained I'd rather do it through anesthesiology to cut out all of the IM BS. GI: nah. Rheum/endo/allergy: no, no, and maybe, but still no.

EM: vague complaints, drug seeking, etc. suck. social work sucks (see above re: IM).

Surgery: not going to do it. No, not "even" urology or ENT. It's not for me.

OB: for REI or gyn-onc, maybe. But I'm not going to deal with the primary training to get there, and these are some of the most competitive fellowships in all of medicine.

Derm: low 250's isn't enough for derm, honestly, and I'm not going to take a year off to do research.... because dermatology is not interesting.

PM&R: I'd take anesthesiology at PM&R $ before PM&R at anesthesiology $. I envy people attracted to this specialty, because it has a lot of pros... but it's not for me.

Optho: can't do it because of vision stuff. Also exceedingly not interested.

Peds -> subspecialty has its attraction (my school is affiliated with an incredible children's hospital), but again... the primary training in peds would SUCK.

So with that, @Consigliere, what's a medical student to do? I think my answer is just keep on being a stud and try to right the ship when I'm out there in the real world. I'm not unaware of the trajectory of the specialty and of medicine in general. I was a consultant for a long time and my job was basically to make things suck for doctors. I get the battle. But you DO have to wake up and enjoy the work you do every day.

You've listed a lot of negatives about other specialties. So what is your idea of the downsides to anesthesia aside from CRNAs? Everyone says rounding sucks in IM, but what does that mean? Does that mean thinking sucks? Does that mean walking sucks? Talking to patients sucks? Not every IM or subspecialty attending struggles over minutiae.

I did both IM and anesthesia. Both residencies had it's pros and cons. I like anesthesia, but if I could do it again, I would do an IM subspecialty...probably pulm/cc. No med student likes clinic, but when you are 50 and have a family, having the ability to slow down a bit and do more clinic is a nice option. Don't write off IM because rounding as a med student is boring.

 

[MrChance2]

make a boards study resource?
Path?
Interventional radiology?
IM critical care most of the patients are too sick to talk much and incubated. Rounding is 10%-20% of your day from what I've seen.

i just did a week of anesthesia but with the exception of when something goes wrong the anesthesiologists I saw just seemed to repeat "start the gas-BS with the people in the room for a period of time-stop the gas" over and over and over again.

 

[repititionition]

You've listed a lot of negatives about other specialties. So what is your idea of the downsides to anesthesia aside from CRNAs? Everyone says rounding sucks in IM, but what does that mean? Does that mean thinking sucks? Does that mean walking sucks? Talking to patients sucks? Not every IM or subspecialty attending struggles over minutiae.

I did both IM and anesthesia. Both residencies had it's pros and cons. I like anesthesia, but if I could do it again, I would do an IM subspecialty...probably pulm/cc. No med student likes clinic, but when you are 50 and have a family, having the ability to slow down a bit and do more clinic is a nice option. Don't write off IM because rounding as a med student is boring.

I appreciate you following up. You have a unique and valuable perspective for those of us thinking about this.

The only other field that I seriously consider *is* IM, but my issue with medicine is that I do not "feel" like an internist, and nor do I jive with most of them. I am very much a "see a problem, think it through, act (definitively when possible), and then find another problem to solve" kind of person. When I am with an IM team I am always thinking "can we please hurry the F up? Once you've considered all of the information at hand and considered all of the pros and cons of each path forward, you just hitch your horse and ride... and then course-correct later if necessary. When I'm in the OR with an anesthesiologist I like the pace and urgency of the thinking. I watch the attending do something, or he/she asks me what *I* would do next, and I love the necessity of real-time recall of information combined with action. Right now.

To answer your questions more directly, no, walking doesn't suck, and no, thinking certainly does not suck. Talking to patients can often suck (for me). I am a very kind person but honestly have very little empathy, so while I am very invested in helping people, I can often find the futility inherent in a lot of IM patients tiring. And the insane quantity of charting in IM sucks.

I've approached some of my thinking about specialty selection more from the perspective of what I *don't* like, and using that to rule out. While I'm certainly attracted to pulm (and what little CCM I've seen or can grasp as a medical student), my sense is still that there is a lot more baggage in IM/pulm/CCM than in the daily practice of anesthesiology. And my hope is that coming out of a top anesthesiology program with a solid reputation -- I like hard work -- will help to land me in a capacity somewhat more insulated from the challenges of the specialty.

I'd love to hear more thoughts from anyone.

 

[amLOLdipine]

I appreciate you following up. You have a unique and valuable perspective for those of us thinking about this.

The only other field that I seriously consider *is* IM, but my issue with medicine is that I do not "feel" like an internist, and nor do I jive with most of them. I am very much a "see a problem, think it through, act (definitively when possible), and then find another problem to solve" kind of person. When I am with an IM team I am always thinking "can we please hurry the F up? Once you've considered all of the information at hand and considered all of the pros and cons of each path forward, you just hitch your horse and ride... and then course-correct later if necessary. When I'm in the OR with an anesthesiologist I like the pace and urgency of the thinking. I watch the attending do something, or he/she asks me what *I* would do next, and I love the necessity of real-time recall of information combined with action. Right now.

To answer your questions more directly, no, walking doesn't suck, and no, thinking certainly does not suck. Talking to patients can often suck (for me). I am a very kind person but honestly have very little empathy, so while I am very invested in helping people, I can often find the futility inherent in a lot of IM patients tiring. And the insane quantity of charting in IM sucks.

I've approached some of my thinking about specialty selection more from the perspective of what I *don't* like, and using that to rule out. While I'm certainly attracted to pulm (and what little CCM I've seen or can grasp as a medical student), my sense is still that there is a lot more baggage in IM/pulm/CCM than in the daily practice of anesthesiology. And my hope is that coming out of a top anesthesiology program with a solid reputation -- I like hard work -- will help to land me in a capacity somewhat more insulated from the challenges of the specialty.

I'd love to hear more thoughts from anyone.

You pretty much summed up my thoughts exactly.

Also, IM → Pulm/CC is either a 6 or 7 year track depending on whether you pursue a chief year (which often helps for competitive fellowship programs). Gas → CC is 5 years, and you have the flexibility to do either OR anesthesia or work as an intensivist.

 

[Man o War]

I appreciate you following up. You have a unique and valuable perspective for those of us thinking about this.

The only other field that I seriously consider *is* IM, but my issue with medicine is that I do not "feel" like an internist, and nor do I jive with most of them. I am very much a "see a problem, think it through, act (definitively when possible), and then find another problem to solve" kind of person. When I am with an IM team I am always thinking "can we please hurry the F up? Once you've considered all of the information at hand and considered all of the pros and cons of each path forward, you just hitch your horse and ride... and then course-correct later if necessary. When I'm in the OR with an anesthesiologist I like the pace and urgency of the thinking. I watch the attending do something, or he/she asks me what *I* would do next, and I love the necessity of real-time recall of information combined with action. Right now.

To answer your questions more directly, no, walking doesn't suck, and no, thinking certainly does not suck. Talking to patients can often suck (for me). I am a very kind person but honestly have very little empathy, so while I am very invested in helping people, I can often find the futility inherent in a lot of IM patients tiring. And the insane quantity of charting in IM sucks.

I've approached some of my thinking about specialty selection more from the perspective of what I *don't* like, and using that to rule out. While I'm certainly attracted to pulm (and what little CCM I've seen or can grasp as a medical student), my sense is still that there is a lot more baggage in IM/pulm/CCM than in the daily practice of anesthesiology. And my hope is that coming out of a top anesthesiology program with a solid reputation -- I like hard work -- will help to land me in a capacity somewhat more insulated from the challenges of the specialty.

I'd love to hear more thoughts from anyone.

Do what you like, I think your specialty selection approach is a good one. Don't lock yourself into an expensive lifestyle. Pay down your debt. Nobody knows what is going to happen in the future. Hell, at some point we will probably all be government employees anyway. So do you want to be a happy government employee or an unhappy government employee? I knew when I was leaving residency I should've done a fellowship and I let a bunch of people talk me out of it with various predictions for the future. So it was much more painful when I finally did go back and do it many years later. I'm so happy now with my choice.

 

[GravelRider]

I appreciate you following up. You have a unique and valuable perspective for those of us thinking about this.

The only other field that I seriously consider *is* IM, but my issue with medicine is that I do not "feel" like an internist, and nor do I jive with most of them. I am very much a "see a problem, think it through, act (definitively when possible), and then find another problem to solve" kind of person. When I am with an IM team I am always thinking "can we please hurry the F up? Once you've considered all of the information at hand and considered all of the pros and cons of each path forward, you just hitch your horse and ride... and then course-correct later if necessary. When I'm in the OR with an anesthesiologist I like the pace and urgency of the thinking. I watch the attending do something, or he/she asks me what *I* would do next, and I love the necessity of real-time recall of information combined with action. Right now.

To answer your questions more directly, no, walking doesn't suck, and no, thinking certainly does not suck. Talking to patients can often suck (for me). I am a very kind person but honestly have very little empathy, so while I am very invested in helping people, I can often find the futility inherent in a lot of IM patients tiring. And the insane quantity of charting in IM sucks.

I've approached some of my thinking about specialty selection more from the perspective of what I *don't* like, and using that to rule out. While I'm certainly attracted to pulm (and what little CCM I've seen or can grasp as a medical student), my sense is still that there is a lot more baggage in IM/pulm/CCM than in the daily practice of anesthesiology. And my hope is that coming out of a top anesthesiology program with a solid reputation -- I like hard work -- will help to land me in a capacity somewhat more insulated from the challenges of the specialty.

I'd love to hear more thoughts from anyone.

It's also worth noting that if you are the sort that likes to know the "rank" of places you will be training, coming out of a top 10 IM residency will likely open up more doors and give you more options than coming out of a top 10 anesthesia residency. IM as a specialty is not particularly competitive because there are probably 10 million spots, but a top tier IM residency is very competitive. Plus, you can always make the stupid decision I made...

I am not trying to dissuade you because I do like practicing anesthesia, but I also didn't dislike IM either. Obviously do what you like, but don't rule out IM because rounds are boring. That's just short-sighted. Rounds were such a small part of my IM residency experience. There were so many different personalities in my IM residency..."surgical" types, the introverted ones who go into rheum or endo, the gunners gunning for GI and cards, the doers who end up in pulm, the thinkers who end up in ID or heme/onc, the really good all around types that end up doing primary care, and the unmotivated ones who end up as hospitalists.

 

[OldGregg]

I need some honest advice about this field. MS3 is upon me and the only specialty that has interested me so far is anesthesiology.

I enjoy research and would like to move forward with some in anesthesiology, but I get really spooked by doom and gloom whenever I come on this forum. Perhaps I will go through MS3 and find something that I never thought I'd fall in love with, but I think its more likely I remain neutral on everything else while still liking anesthesiology.

-I love the subject matter.
-I don't care about playing second fiddle to a surgeon.
-I like the OR but don't like surgery.
-I don't care about patient admiration.
-I prefer to not have "patients" in the way that FM or outpatient peds does.
-I like minor procedures but not surgery.
-I also like critical care and peds as potential fellowship pathways.

I'd be open to arguments in this thread or a PM (I could give more background on stats like Step score etc. if that affects your opinion) for either position. I also need to decide whether to delay one of my rotations to do a rotation in anesthesiology to get a better feel for the work and potentially get letters, so this issue has been weighing heavily on my mind.

I think you have enough interest in the field based on your list that your should strongly consider doing a rotation (maybe even just a week if you can swing it) in anesthesiology. I know there's a lot of doom and gloom on the forums, but ultimately you have to make the decision you're happy with. Sit around for a lap chole or two, see what it's like to run an anesthetic for a CABG, see some cool regional blocks. Ask attendings at your institution what they think the future of anesthesiology will be.

I'm still a resident, but I don't regret my choice. I chose a field I'm happy in that is a good fit for me. I didn't decide on anesthesiology until MS4 year, so you've definitely got time. I think a lot of anesthesiology attendings understand that our exposure to the field comes later and will still write letters for you. Plus, I had an internal medicine doc as one of my letters - doesn't have to be exlusively anesthesiologists.

A lot of the medicine world is changing, but trust YOUR gut and follow your instincts!

 

[bashwell]

I'd add what you enjoy in your 20s might not be what you'll enjoy in your 30s or 40s or later. Crashing patients, tricky procedures, etc. are really cool, but when you're 50 maybe seeing "boring" patients in clinic might actually make for a nicer lifestyle or the kind of lifestyle you actually want. Also rounding in an academic teaching hospital as a resident seems very different than how attendings round in private practice. It seems much more palatable to round as an attending in PP to me.

So, as much as possible, try not only to see what you enjoy now, but try to project what kind of life you want 10 years from now, 20 years, etc. Also talk to people at different stages and places in life, not only single residents, but married residents, residents with partners and children, new attendings, mid career attendings, older attendings, attendings in private practice, attendings in academia, etc. That'll hopefully give you a bigger picture and better appreciation for what you want out of your medical career and life in general.

Just my two cents, as someone who is likewise trying to figure out what to do.

 

[NWwildcat2013]

How much mental math and calculation is involved in anesthesiology? I consider myself smart but my weakness is being quick on the fly with mental math and calculations. For some reason I've always struggled with it and I need to manipulate numbers on paper otherwise I lose track of what Im doing. I shadowed yesterday and the resident was talking with an attending about Na concentration and fluid management and I was completely lost. I understand the physiology well and why shifts occur etc. but when it comes to talking percents and mEq I am lost. Should I be able to follow that mental math easily or is this something that can to be learned, practiced, and becomes second nature?

Im really embarrassed to admit this, but I think I need to be honest with myself about this weakness.

 

[deleted162650]

How much mental math and calculation is involved in anesthesiology? I consider myself smart but my weakness is being quick on the fly with mental math and calculations. For some reason I've always struggled with it and I need to manipulate numbers on paper otherwise I lose track of what Im doing. I shadowed yesterday and the resident was talking with an attending about Na concentration and fluid management and I was completely lost. I understand the physiology well and why shifts occur etc. but when it comes to talking percents and mEq I am lost. Should I be able to follow that mental math easily or is this something that can to be learned, practiced, and becomes second nature?

Im really embarrassed to admit this, but I think I need to be honest with myself about this weakness.

Critical. If you don't have your fractals and derivatives down pat you may fatally overdose a pt. I think for most of us, the decision came down to Anesthesia vs. a career in Advanced Statistical Modeling.

 

[NWwildcat2013]

Critical. If you don't have your fractals and derivatives down pat you may fatally overdose a pt. I think for most of us, the decision came down to Anesthesia vs. a career in Advanced Statistical Modeling.

I don't speak SDN very well but I think that means "Not a big deal".


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[deleted162650]

I don't speak SDN very well but I think that means "Not a big deal".


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[skanderbeg]

Spend as much time as possible reading this forum. Read through the numerous discussions by experienced attendings, from all regions of the country, and really listen to what they are saying about the future of anesthesia. I'm a med student also and view things with less doom, but the fact so many experienced physicians share this narrative supports that anesthesia is changed from what it was and that it may continue to change in a way that is bad for MDs. Be realistic that things could go very poorly going into this specialty. Accept the fact that physician MDs have been losing the war against mid levels with no change in sight, with likely expansions in mid level scope of practice if the lobbies continue to convince congress and local legislatures that it is safe. MDs of our generation will spend a lot more time justifying to people why we deserve higher pay and why we provide safer anesthesia. That's the reality.
After doing that, if you still love it and are willing to accept that risk, go for it. I'll be applying this fall to gas residencies because after reading this forum for years, I'm willing to accept it is still what I want to spend my life doing, even with the uncertainty and problems. There are significantly safer career options than anesthesia, with better lifestyles and pay (mentioned in previous posts). Blade, Consigliere, and others will give you an honest view of many of the problems facing the field and you should 100% believe them. If you're still willing to take the risk knowing all that, then you have your answer.

 

[ranvier]

I read this forum in med school, residency, and now.