chicamedica said:
yeah i hear you guys. . .I've been on medicine rotations the past couple of months, and I too heard a lot of misconceptions about the field, as well as regarding anesthesiologists' motivations for choosing the field. Just tonight, I was at a dinner get together with my team from last month, and one of the interns was so surprised that I actually enjoyed every rotation 3rd year, because he thought anesthesia was a field people chose cause they didn't like any of their 3rd year rotations. Whereas one of the reasons I chose anesthesia was BECAUSE i felt it was a synthesis of most medical fields--cardiology, renal, endocrine, hematology (well internal medicine, period! ALL of it), exposure to surgery, peds, emergency medicine (in the OR or on the floors during codes), CCM. Actually in my experience those who chose anesthesia cause they enjoyed everything were in the majority vs those who chose it out of exclusion.
When I started my medicine sub-i last month, when my resident and I were discussing what I'd like to get out of the month, he ACTUALLY goes "Well, I know you're going into anesthesiology, so you're prob not that interested in medicine." i'm like. . .does he realize how dangerous anesthesia would be if anesthesiologists practiced without a solid medicine foundation??
I'm just appalled at how little other physicians know about our field. One of my missions is to change this. You guys should too. Educate em about how this field is awesome, not cause of the "easy" hours, not cause of the "pay", cause it's FUN, cause it's CEREBRAL yet PROCEDURAL, cause you have to be an expert at medicine and pharmacology, cause it's acute care at its purest, cause there is so much yet to be discovered!! (shall i go on?) c'mon there are so many awesome things about anesthesiology, why do people always start by mentioning the "pay" and the "hours"? This is what leads to the stereotypes. . .and I know most of you all didn't choose anesthesia primarily for the "hours" and the "pay". Let's go out there are EDUCATE! 👍
Sorry to burst your bubble, but lets take off the rose-colored glasses for a minute and talk.
First of all, like my post above stated, you are experiencing a transient academic-syndrome, where egos play a larger-than-normal part, where people feel the need to express opinions of which specialty is best, worst. No such banter occurs in my world.
Secondly, anesthesia's reimbursement DID play a part in my specialty selection. I came out of med school 200k in debt. Yeah, I like medicine. But it is not my identity. My identity is outside the hospital. So one of my goals coming out of med school was to get the most bang for my buck so I could continue my identity, which like I said, is outside the hospital. Family/personal interests are my identity. Not anesthesia.
Just so happens I like what I do. And I'm good at it.
You are at a point in your career where talking about money is taboo, so I understand your post. And yes, philanthropic individuals exist who dont care about how much debt they are in after med school, and dont really care that on a pediatricians salary, paying back 200k in student loans while also paying a mortgage and having 2-3 kids is gonna be rough. I respect those people.
But thats not me.
Taboo post here? Probably. But you need to hear it.
Think outside the box for a minute. Read some of my past posts about how after, say, five years or so in practice, ANY specialty will become kinda routine, and resemble a job in the true sense. Your life interests will diversify. Marriage. Kids. Travel. Maybe you'll wanna fly airplanes.
Do I like anesthesia? Yep. Could I like interventional rads? Yep.
I'd be happy in any well-reimbursed specialty with a good lifestyle. But I'm one of the dudes that doesnt put alotta emphasis on the doctor thing. Again, medicine isnt my identity.
I can say these things now because of where I am in my career. Ten years out. No way I'd do the weekends/holidays/nightwork I do for a pediatricians salary.
Does that make me "less" of a doctor? Maybe to the people you are associating with now. But like I said earlier, nobody out here really gives a rats a ss. We all come to work, then we go home.
But thats OK. I like what I do. I'm good at what I do. I deliver superior patient care, I work my a ss off to make sure the surgeons are in and out, and my department has high morale/no attrition under my leadership.
So tell your friends theres this anesthesiologist out there that posts on SDN who has paid off all his debt, enjoys his job, is watching his kids grow up, and has time to stay current in the left seat of a turboprop.
And theres many, many anesthesiologists out there just like me.
