Seeking advice about switching from anesthesiology to pain management

[Shouldawouldacouldas]

Anyone gone from the practice of general anesthesiology to pain management recently? Is it worth switching now? It was much better time to switch in the early 1990's because of reimbursement.

My jobs have been mainly anesthesiology, but I also have provided both acute and chronic pain management services.

An anesthesia management company is taking over our hospital soon, and this may be an opportunity to change directions into a job with no call.

Thank you in advance for your responses. I will also post a similar question in the pain forum.

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[Aether2000]

They both have advantages and disadvantages. For pain it largely depends on the setup of the clinic, payor class mix, volume, your training and skillsets, and whether you prescribe opioids or not. Starting from scratch, opening your own pain clinic would be difficult at this time but you may find a block mill job that pays well without being a pill mill.

 

[Hoya11]

Anyone gone from the practice of general anesthesiology to pain management recently? Is it worth switching now? It was much better time to switch in the early 1990's because of reimbursement.

My jobs have been mainly anesthesiology, but I also have provided both acute and chronic pain management services.

An anesthesia management company is taking over our hospital soon, and this may be an opportunity to change directions into a job with no call.

Thank you in advance for your responses. I will also post a similar question in the pain forum.

If you dont like the OR, do it.

If you want to make the most possible money you can, do it.

If you like working in the OR and this is purely a lifestyle move, id think twice.

Pain has a lot of drawbacks that anesthesiology does not have, in exchange for the no call no stress.

The guys I have seen leave the OR for pain typically hated the OR, thought it was beneath them and/or that they were being underpaid/overworked.

 

[skypilot]

If you dont like the OR, do it.

If you want to make the most possible money you can, do it.

If you like working in the OR and this is purely a lifestyle move, id think twice.

Pain has a lot of drawbacks that anesthesiology does not have, in exchange for the no call no stress.

The guys I have seen leave the OR for pain typically hated the OR, thought it was beneath them and/or that they were being underpaid/overworked.

I agree with this. If you like the OR why not just get a non-call OR job? Sounds like you have plenty of experience in Pain already though. Did you do a fellowship?

 

[jthedestroyr]

Pain has a lot of drawbacks that anesthesiology does not have, in exchange for the no call no stress.
.

what draw backs? you mean not having to work with clip board nazi nurse admins, militant crna, snippy pre/pacu nurses.

yeah, everything people complain about in pain imo pales with the baggage of being in the OR.

 

[Gern Blansten]

what draw backs? you mean not having to work with clip board nazi nurse admins, militant crna, snippy pre/pacu nurses.

yeah, everything people complain about in pain imo pales with the baggage of being in the OR.

Even getting shot and killed by opioid seeking patients?

 

[acidbase1]

what draw backs? you mean not having to work with clip board nazi nurse admins, militant crna, snippy pre/pacu nurses.

yeah, everything people complain about in pain imo pales with the baggage of being in the OR.

Gosh this is so true. Medicine somehow preselects the bitchiest people alive

 

[jthedestroyr]

Even getting shot and killed by opioid seeking patients?

prefer that to working with crna. you are plsying russian rulette daily while supervising.

 

[apoondoc]

If you are that rare anesthesiologist that loves meaningless charting, likes dealing with insurance companies, likes listening to patients complain, never wants to see patients get better, and likes to get dumped on by Internal Medicine and Psychiatry, then pain is for you.