Reconsidering Anesthesia?

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Adam638

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I have always had an interest in anesthesia and had it high on my specialty list. Intubations, central lines, pharmacology etc. But this new healthcare policy stuff is scaring the s@#$ out of me :eek:

What exactly does this new policy mean for the the field of anesthesia?

How much can one expect to make out of residency if this plan goes through?

Do you see CRNA's taking over the field?

If you were going through the match at this time, would you still go into gas?:confused:

I understand this has been brought up in previous threads, but some of the stuff is over my head at this time since I'm not knowledgeable in the political side of medicine. Any advice????

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I have always had an interest in anesthesia and had it high on my specialty list. Intubations, central lines, pharmacology etc. But this new healthcare policy stuff is scaring the s@#$ out of me :eek:

What exactly does this new policy mean for the the field of anesthesia?

How much can one expect to make out of residency if this plan goes through?

Do you see CRNA's taking over the field?

If you were going through the match at this time, would you still go into gas?:confused:

I understand this has been brought up in previous threads, but some of the stuff is over my head at this time since I'm not knowledgeable in the political side of medicine. Any advice????[/QUOTe/]


i would not do gas over again. i would probably do a specialty where i could control my hours better and wasnt at the mercy of hospital, health care plan, partners, group, etc. or i would do radiology where i were insulated from the day to day annoyances and hassles and rule making by the hospital, health care organization.

CRNAs and Advanced practice nurses have gained tremendous strides in recent years to thepoint where people are saying why have a doctor when you can have a 2 year trained nurse do the job of a doctor for cheaper. The nursing organizations are claiming equivalency and nowhere is this battle playing out so visible then in anesthesia. and the politicians are buying it. this should be carefully understood prior to making a decision to going into anesthesia. If you read this board regularly thats all people are talking about in the past few years on how CRNAs are self serving and how they managed to dupe the politicians. The field is fraught with political problems and certainly image issues even though we have made the field a lot safer in the years.
 
I have always had an interest in anesthesia and had it high on my specialty list. Intubations, central lines, pharmacology etc. But this new healthcare policy stuff is scaring the s@#$ out of me :eek:

What exactly does this new policy mean for the the field of anesthesia?

How much can one expect to make out of residency if this plan goes through?

Do you see CRNA's taking over the field?

If you were going through the match at this time, would you still go into gas?:confused:

I understand this has been brought up in previous threads, but some of the stuff is over my head at this time since I'm not knowledgeable in the political side of medicine. Any advice????

All of this has been addresses on several current threads...

You should not try to enter a field that you will likely work in for 30yrs if you don't like it, no matter what the pay. If you love a field and you are not in it, you will likely regret it no matter what you are being paid.

The number of surgeries performed in the US are very likely to increase as the baby boomers age and the need for anesthesia services is likely to increase as well.

Even if anesthesia services gets a 50% pay cut, and I DON'T think it will, we will still be making good money relative to medicine in general, given our relatively low overhead.

There are not enough CRNAs to displace physician anesthesiologists.

Do a fellowship and you will have more job security.

Change is inevitable. No matter what specialty you enter it will be notably different by the time you retire.
 
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Just a FYI for the original poster. The last house committee that just passed changed the bill so that the new program, even though a government program, will not pay doctors based on medicare rates. An independant council will asign the rates. That means you almost for sure will not be getting paid 33% of private insurance. That also means, there is a possibleity that anesthesiologists may be getting paid more than they are now. Demand is only going up. I would say u have to specialize. If you specialize u will be insulated from any reach by CRNAs. But also, residencies are not going up yet CRNA schools are getting bigger and putting out more of them. All this means is that their salaries will be going down, and in 5 years they will be 30-50% lower guarenteed. Our role will be mainly supervisory, but hey that is not bad at all. So keep that in mind. The key was the medicare mayment issue. If that is resolved my friend, all will be well with the specialty. And BTW the CRNA issue is at its peak with us, its all the other medical specialties that are in for quite a doosy, our issues with advanced nurses is already priced in. And in other fields, if its not nurses its PAs, etc. I love this field. Good luck.
 
What exactly does this new policy mean for the the field of anesthesia?


Nobody knows.
Nobody knows what, if any, bill will be passed.
Nobody can say to what extent a substantial decrease in dollars going to anesthesia care will affect anesthesiologist salaries.

It's a crapshoot.
If you want the most predictable career, you need to find something that a nurse cannot do where you deliver care to a patient face to face.
 
Do something that you are interested in. I do not care how much health reform changes anesthesia I would not want to do anything else.I could never practice primary care ,again.

Cambie
 
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