Some super noob questions about Anesthesiology

[Simba699]

Soon to be incoming MS1 here thinking about anesthesia.

How is the general impression of the specialty in the public, outside of the hospital? Do people think of you as real doctors and respect you as such? What do you get from people when you tell them you're an anesthesiologist?

Do people ever confuse you with CRNAs or is the CRNA problem only a ?problem in the hospital? I get the feeling from most people that they think anesthesiologists get paid a whole lotta money for not doing a whole lot. Obviously thats not the case but general public is often unaware.

Is making 500k 5 years into your job as a general anesthesiologist still feasible? Is this still gonna be possible in the future as more and more hospitals buy out private practices.

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[Simba699]

I know these are not good insightful questions about the field but most of that is answered for me by reading other threads or talking to my physician parents.

I just always feel like u anesthesiologists are super cool on here even with noob questions compared to all the other docs on SDN haha

 

[el_duderino]

I'm just an M4 going into anesthesia, but every time I tell a non-medical person that I'm graduating medical school and going into anesthesia, they invariably say something to the effect of "you'll be making the big bucks!" They also seem to think it's cool, and that's the extent of their knowledge. They have an impression that surgeons make bank but live at the hospital and never see their families, general medicine is kind of boring, and... that's all most people really think about. There's surgery, working in a clinic, and working in a hospital.

 

[nimbus]

Can you elaborate a bit on this? I'm an MS2 who wants procedures and acuity. I understand going through IM->Cards to get to IC will be rough but perhaps worth it if IC is my dream job.

Patient Base: Would it be fair to say IC will have an older patient base on average? Is IC all old people or obese diabetic smokers? Surely some patients have CAD without being too old or poor lifestyle decisions, but how common are they? I think GS will see plenty of young patients but I doubt IC will ever get anyone younger than 35. How about the quality of patient? Do you think IC or GS patients are generally easier to deal with or more gratifying to heal? Am I giving too much slack to GS patients in terms of being young and otherwise healthy?

How they spend their days: GS and even many subspecialties thereof will be mostly operating but will also be taking consults and follow ups depending on their APP arrangement. IC will be in the cath lab as well as working up cardiac patients. I guess this is the most variable part and I have to decide do I need to be doing open surgeries or am I happy doing perc interventions. One thing I have noticed though is that Surgeons seem more dependent on getting referrals to have their business succeed.

Waking up in the middle of the night: IC = STEMI call, Surgery = Trauma call. Surgery would have to be in-house for this though, right? Personally I think IC wins in this regard because of how non operative trauma surgery is becoming, whereas STEMI = emergent cath lab PCI.

Soon to be incoming MS1 here thinking about anesthesia.

How is the general impression of the specialty in the public, outside of the hospital? Do people think of you as real doctors and respect you as such? What do you get from people when you tell them you're an anesthesiologist?

Do people ever confuse you with CRNAs or is the CRNA problem only a ?problem in the hospital? I get the feeling from most people that they think anesthesiologists get paid a whole lotta money for not doing a whole lot. Obviously thats not the case but general public is often unaware.

Is making 500k 5 years into your job as a general anesthesiologist still feasible? Is this still gonna be possible in the future as more and more hospitals buy out private practices.

Huh? You were demoted from MS2 to premed in 1 month. Trolling much?

 

[spacegun]

I'm just a med student too. I don't think most of my non-medical friends and family or the public know anesthesiologists are doctors. They usually think anesthesiologists are nurses or technicians that assist the supposedly real doctor, the surgeon.

But the public and most the non-medical people I know also think radiologists are technicians. They confuse psychiatrists with psychologists all the time. They don't know the difference between an optometrist and and ophthalmologist (if they have even heard of the word).

The only doctors they really know are like their family doctor and pediatricians (two of the lowest paid specialties). They know surgeons. They know neurosurgeons too because they hear jokes about "brain surgery" being like "rocket science." They know about emergency medicine I guess because of movies and shows.

I definitely wouldn't pick a specialty based on what the public knows or doesn't know about it. They public can be pretty ignorant about specialties.

 

[GlowInTheDark]

Well I just talked to a bunch of 12-14 year olds about career choice and they thought I had the coolest job possible.

Kindergarteners thought I was cool too. ‍♂️

 

[spacegun]

Well I just talked to a bunch of 12-14 year olds about career choice and they thought I had the coolest job possible.

Kindergarteners thought I was cool too. ‍♂️

bruh kindergarteners think snot is cool lol

 

[Simba699]

Huh? You were demoted from MS2 to premed in 1 month. Trolling much?

Yeah I lied at that time. I’m so sorry

 

[Deleted member 737595]

Huh? You were demoted from MS2 to premed in 1 month. Trolling much?

Wow, this is excellent. I laughed so hard at this!

 

[AdmiralChz]

:troll:

Seriously, only other post was on which makes more $$: gen surg vs intervention cards.

 

[Simba699]

These are all fair questions nonetheless

 

[Deleted member 737595]

These are all fair questions nonetheless

They are questions about prestige and wanting to seem superior to nurses and technicians. How would it affect OP if anesthesiologists were viewed about like lab technicians or phlebotomists? Also, asking about making 500k after residency, know-it-all attitude since he has 'physician parents' (yet he is a noob?), and lying about being a medical student.

Give me a break.

(I am premed though, so I don't even know why I am replying here lol. Cheers anyways mate!)

 

[pgg]

These are all fair questions nonetheless

Ask us again in a few months when you're a MS4 making your rank order list.

 

[Consigliere]

Soon to be incoming MS1 here thinking about anesthesia.

Think about something else...you've got plenty of time. The rest of your questions are too stupid to warrant a response.

 

[deleted50478]

Soon to be incoming MS1 here thinking about anesthesia.

How is the general impression of the specialty in the public, outside of the hospital? Do people think of you as real doctors and respect you as such? What do you get from people when you tell them you're an anesthesiologist?

Do people ever confuse you with CRNAs or is the CRNA problem only a ?problem in the hospital? I get the feeling from most people that they think anesthesiologists get paid a whole lotta money for not doing a whole lot. Obviously thats not the case but general public is often unaware.

Is making 500k 5 years into your job as a general anesthesiologist still feasible? Is this still gonna be possible in the future as more and more hospitals buy out private practices.

Most people don’t know anything about the specialty or they think you make tons of money based on the false income rankings in US News or whatever.

No one confuses me with a CRNA. There’s not a ‘CRNA problem’ in the hospital in my opinion, there’s a problem with their lobby trying to kamikaze our specialty, but it isn’t reflected in life in the hospital.

If you think you’ll make 500k you will probably be very disappointed.

Not many hospitals are buying private practices. Wealth funds are buying private practices and turning everyone into salaried employees and taking as much of what you earn as possible. You lose both income and control, but there’s nothing you can do about it. If/when you go into practice you can expect to work the most hours for the lowest wage that the job market allows. For now, that market still provides a very nice career, how long that will last is unknown.

Don’t worry about picking a specialty until you do some clinical rotations and see what you like.

 

[Deleted member 737595]

Think about something else...you've got plenty of time. The rest of your questions are too stupid to warrant a response.

Except he probably isn't even an 'incoming' MS1. I bet he's not even into med school yet.

 

[deleted171991]

Except he probably isn't even an 'incoming' MS1. I bet he's not even into med school yet.

And if you keep looking, you may even find an open fontanelle.

 

[Simba699]

For now, that market still provides a very nice career, how long that will last is unknown.

Everywhere you look you find information about how big of a physician shortage there will be across all specialties and primary care going into the future. So why is there still so much fear that physician salaries won't stay high? Especially now that we don't have a socialist regime building.

 

[deleted171991]

Everywhere you look you find information about how big of a physician shortage there will be across all specialties and primary care going into the future. So why is there still so much fear that physician salaries won't stay high? Especially now that we don't have a socialist regime building.

So you do have an open fontanelle.

Physicians are being replaced by midlevels, wherever possible. Those who still have a job have to continuously settle for more work for less money. That's the capitalist reality.

 

[Deleted member 737595]

So you do have an open fontanelle.

Physicians are being replaced by midlevels, wherever possible. Those who still have a job have to continuously settle for more work for less money. That's the capitalist reality.

Which is why sub-specialization is more and more attractive? Midlevels couldn't possibly compete with a Neonatal + Fetal Cardiothoracic Surgeon right? I am hopelessly ignorant on this as well actually.

 

[San Marzano]

Which is why sub-specialization is more and more attractive? Midlevels couldn't possibly compete with a Neonatal + Fetal Cardiothoracic Surgeon right? I am hopelessly ignorant on this as well actually.

Good luck with that career.

 

[Deleted member 737595]

Good luck with that career.

That's not my point. What I am saying is, when it comes to some sub specialties, there are no substitutes. An NP is not going to be directing surgery any time soon (or am I wrong?)

 

[San Marzano]

That's not my point. What I am saying is, when it comes to some sub specialties, there are no substitutes. An NP is not going to be directing surgery any time soon (or am I wrong?)

Mid levels are in every single area of healthcare. Pediatric cardiothoracic surgery, pediatric interventional radiology, spine surgery, brain surgery, plastic surgery, dermatology, endocrinology, the list is endless. But it doesn’t matter. Whatever it is you want to do in medicine as a physician will always be possible no matter what the mid levels are doing. One big difference is that physicians are expected to work a lot harder than the mid levels. Nobody cares how much vacation we get or whether we get home for dinner or if we have time to schedule a dentist appointment. The mid levels are experts at working as little as possible and still making it appear as if they’re some oppressed people group that the nation needs to rally around.

 

[anbuitachi]

Everywhere you look you find information about how big of a physician shortage there will be across all specialties and primary care going into the future. So why is there still so much fear that physician salaries won't stay high? Especially now that we don't have a socialist regime building.

Don't trust the BS thats on the internet. News articles about all that crap is just click bait, like doctor salaries. I've seen anesthesiology listed on forbes as #1 before, which every doctor knows is complete BS but barely anyone in the public knows that. The physician shortage is BS too. Do your sources even define what 'shortage' means? Are they aiming for 1 doctor per patient?

 

[deleted50478]

If you have an ego, anesthesiology is probably not for you because a lot of places surgeons will look down on you, and sometimes even CRNAs. EM is probably not for you either because although the public think you're cool, you're probably the least respected by other doctors in the hospital (depending on where you work).

That’s incorrect in my opinion. There are plenty of egos in anesthesiology, you need to be able to control it though.

 

[Movr and Shakr]

Soon to be incoming MS1 here thinking about anesthesia.

How is the general impression of the specialty in the public, outside of the hospital? Do people think of you as real doctors and respect you as such? What do you get from people when you tell them you're an anesthesiologist?

Do people ever confuse you with CRNAs or is the CRNA problem only a ?problem in the hospital? I get the feeling from most people that they think anesthesiologists get paid a whole lotta money for not doing a whole lot. Obviously thats not the case but general public is often unaware.

Is making 500k 5 years into your job as a general anesthesiologist still feasible? Is this still gonna be possible in the future as more and more hospitals buy out private practices.

1)People/patients do not confuse you with CRNA. They know the difference..
2)Respect part within the public=stayed same or improved
3)500k is feasible. You may need to relocate and do not hesitate. All companies are driven by market forces. Stay away from AMCs..

 

[coffeebythelake]

Mid levels are in every single area of healthcare. Pediatric cardiothoracic surgery, pediatric interventional radiology, spine surgery, brain surgery, plastic surgery, dermatology, endocrinology, the list is endless. But it doesn’t matter. Whatever it is you want to do in medicine as a physician will always be possible no matter what the mid levels are doing. One big difference is that physicians are expected to work a lot harder than the mid levels. Nobody cares how much vacation we get or whether we get home for dinner or if we have time to schedule a dentist appointment. The mid levels are experts at working as little as possible and still making it appear as if they’re some oppressed people group that the nation needs to rally around.

Truth