Tips on becoming an anesthesiologist

[suush1]

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Hi there! My name is robin and i am currently a junior in high school. i've been talking to my close teacher at school and was wondering and researching on whether becoming anesthesiologist or entrepreneur would be better...
This is my first time at this forum and i would deeply appreciate any kind of tips and pointers.

1. On scale of 1 to 10, how difficult is the process of becoming an anesthesiologist?
2. What would be the optimal/recommended courses to take in high school to prepare for this job?
3. Would it be worth the time and determination to become an anesthesiologist?

Thank you very much! 🙂

 

[Licoricestick]

What is this - the third one of these in a month? 😴😴😴

Hi there! My name is robin and i am currently a junior in high school. i've been talking to my close teacher at school and was wondering and researching on whether becoming anesthesiologist or entrepreneur would be better...
This is my first time at this forum and i would deeply appreciate any kind of tips and pointers.

1. On scale of 1 to 10, how difficult is the process of becoming an anesthesiologist?
2. What would be the optimal/recommended courses to take in high school to prepare for this job?
3. Would it be worth the time and determination to become an anesthesiologist?

Thank you very much! 🙂

Firstly: Learn to use a search engine - either for these forums (because similar questions have been asked before) or for google (for example: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=%22how+to+become+an+anesthesiologist%22 with thanks and apologies to pjl for borrowing the concept).

Secondly: anesthesiologist or entrepreneur? What the...? Do you have any clue what we actually do? 😱

Thirdly: we can't answer your value questions for you.

 

[cfdavid]

First, I would say that you can be both an anesthesiologist and an entrepreneur. Perhaps that'll become more difficult in the future, though.

You have plenty of time to get the exact path figured out, but obviously take science courses and look up the prerequisites for getting into medical school (the first step). Really, this starts in college.

Regarding whether you SHOULD do medicine (after which you may very well decide upon a different specialty) is entirely a personal decision.

***Remember this. In the world today, as a general rule, the most successful are the ones able to "delay gratification" in order to accomplish their goals. Also, personal and financial rewards can be quite different, in many cases.

Good luck, and do some research. One thing you have is plenty of time.

 

[ozzie20]

Hi there! My name is robin and i am currently a junior in high school. i've been talking to my close teacher at school and was wondering and researching on whether becoming anesthesiologist or entrepreneur would be better...
This is my first time at this forum and i would deeply appreciate any kind of tips and pointers.

1. On scale of 1 to 10, how difficult is the process of becoming an anesthesiologist?
2. What would be the optimal/recommended courses to take in high school to prepare for this job?
3. Would it be worth the time and determination to become an anesthesiologist?

Thank you very much! 🙂

To all those that complain of people asking the same questions again and again, its because NEW people join, and they have those questions. The point of a forum is not only to search, but to converse with other people. Replying to threads is going to continue, brushing them off and telling the new people to stop asking questions won't help. New people will continue to register here as long as there are medical schools accepting new applicants, and the cycle of questions will continue, as will the dynamic of medicine.

1. On a scale of 1-10, for me, it was 10. Getting into college, getting into medical school, doing well in med school, completing steps 1-3, applying, paying the fees for applications etc, it was very hard.

2. In high school, I would say it doesn't really matter. If you like anesthesia, you'll drift towards classes geared towards anesthesia, most likely physics/biology/chemistry.

3. Right now things are in flux, I don't know that its worth the time/determination to even become a doctor anymore. On a per hour basis, you can make more money elsewhere, with much less stress. If you truly are interested in medicine, don't let people stop you, but heed their advice, and look to yourself to see whether it is all worth it.

 

[mille125]

Hi there! My name is robin and i am currently a junior in high school. i've been talking to my close teacher at school and was wondering and researching on whether becoming anesthesiologist or entrepreneur would be better...
This is my first time at this forum and i would deeply appreciate any kind of tips and pointers.

1. On scale of 1 to 10, how difficult is the process of becoming an anesthesiologist?
2. What would be the optimal/recommended courses to take in high school to prepare for this job?
3. Would it be worth the time and determination to become an anesthesiologist?

Thank you very much! 🙂

Question 1: 10........which is true for all physicians
Question 2: none.....high school is meaningless...there is not one high school class that has helped me today outside of typing....college is a different story...your goal should be to prepare for college
Question 3: Hard to answer this one. If you are asking would I do it again, I would say yes.

 

[Jeff05]

i think it's ok to post, but only ONCE you have done a site search, read through the threads asking the SAME question by the SAME demographic (there was a high school kid here asking the same sort of complete nonsense questions). if you still have questions, then go ahead and post.

 

[pgg]

1. On scale of 1 to 10, how difficult is the process of becoming an anesthesiologist?

Well, you've got to consider that extra push over the cliff.

It's not ten. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten. You're on ten here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on ten ...

 

[Fastrach]

Would echo most of the comments above. I think your naivete at this point in your education is ok, and is to be expected. One thing you'll find out is that there are many routes people take to ultimately get into this field. You just need to find the route that fits your interests and talents best, and excel at it as you go. It's the summation of many, many small steps you'll take from here on out, and it's important to accept that the journey is just as important as the final destination. Take pride in your work, regardless of what you're doing, enjoy each success along the way, and don't take any good fortune for granted. The traits that separate those who finish from those who don't boil down to tenacity and dedication. My advice would be this: focus on the sciences, studying hard and doing your best in your courses, while taking time to nurture your soul and be a good citizen and humanitarian, then apply broadly to med schools and residencies to find a place that's a good fit for you so that you may thrive academically. It certainly helps to have a good support system throughout, so don't leave your friends and family behind at any step- you'll definitely need them to maintain your sanity. And by the way, this advice applies to any field of advanced education. I'd caution strongly against thinking you HAVE to do anesthesia or your life is incomplete. You have a LOT of growing to do, and your interests will evolve significantly as you proceed. Don't back yourself into a corner and think there is only one road to happiness, because no job is perfect. Just keep doing what you love, and you'll always love what you do. 👍

 

[coprolalia]

The point of a forum is not only to search, but to converse with other people.

Not with obvious TROLLS and SOCKPUPPETS.

-copro

 

[suush1]

first of all...I am terribly sorry about not utilizing the search engine...
the reason i posted this note was that I have looked in everywhere to find the answer by myself and save troubles that people might have answering my questions but...i had hard time finding much personal experience/answer straight from anesthesiologist or students that actually study anesthesiologist.

thank you all so much for your responses and to answer some misunderstanding i made...

Secondly: anesthesiologist or entrepreneur? What the...? Do you have any clue what we actually do? 😱

i didn't mean to sound like that they were related in any sort...
they were just suggested careers from my teacher..
I'm very sorry if that offended you in any way! 🙁

To all those that complain...

thank you for your understanding...
this wasn't my first time at the forum system but i kind of blanked out on the rules and logics..
and thank you for your feedback! i really appreciate it.

another question:

1. I am currently in 6 AP classes this year and will be at top 5% by the end of the year if things go as planned...which they seem to be for now. high A's (95, 96) and will be attending clubs and extra curricular activities soon. so here's a question that i would like to ask, will any prestigious/good college help to increase the chance of getting into a good medical school? or would any college and medical school result in same outcome?

again, thank you.

 

[Fastrach]

Your very first priority is to improve your english language skills. Nothing else will matter if that's as much a problem as it appears to be from your posting. Good luck.

 

[Makaka]

Your very first priority is to improve your english language skills. Nothing else will matter if that's as much a problem as it appears to be from your posting. Good luck.

What a load. She didn't ask you to comment on her language skills. One thing I know from working with countless foreign born attendings and residents, becoming a physician does not require great English or grammar. Nor has it precluded people from become great physicians.

What you do need, is knowledge of the sciences. Like stated above, physics, chemistry, math and biology. Do well in these classes in high school and it will help you in college, which is what is really important for acceptance into medical school and ultimately becoming and anesthesiologist.

 

[Fastrach]

What a load. She didn't ask you to comment on her language skills. One thing I know from working with countless foreign born attendings and residents, becoming a physician does not require great English or grammar. Nor has it precluded people from become great physicians.

What you do need, is knowledge of the sciences. Like stated above, physics, chemistry, math and biology. Do well in these classes in high school and it will help you in college, which is what is really important for acceptance into medical school and ultimately becoming and anesthesiologist.

I hope this person proves me wrong, and if they're half as smart as they seem to say they are, they just might. Say what you will, but if I was a PD and read a personal statement worded anything like that, or was reading a similarly worded MCAT essay, or had to suffer thru that sort of grammer during an oral board exam, it would be a definite problem for me no matter how smart they came across on paper. And don't even start implying I have something against FMG's. I was good friends with an FMG in med school who had been trying for 14 years to get into residency in the US after getting his MD in China. His language skills were his foremost obstacle to getting into a program, as he couldn't pass the Step 2CS exam. I took time out my fourth year to tutor him in english and medical terminiology on the side, and guess what, after 14 years, he finally matched into an FP program. So I have seen this problem up close and even helped someone thru it, and I can firmly attest, English language skills are critical to becoming a successful MD.

 

[2win]

I hope this person proves me wrong, and if they're half as smart as they seem to say they are, they just might. Say what you will, but if I was a PD and read a personal statement worded anything like that, or was reading a similarly worded MCAT essay, or had to suffer thru that sort of grammer during an oral board exam, it would be a definite problem for me no matter how smart they came across on paper. And don't even start implying I have something against FMG's. I was good friends with an FMG in med school who had been trying for 14 years to get into residency in the US after getting his MD in China. His language skills were his foremost obstacle to getting into a program, as he couldn't pass the Step 2CS exam. I took time out my fourth year to tutor him in english and medical terminiology on the side, and guess what, after 14 years, he finally matched into an FP program. So I have seen this problem up close and even helped someone thru it, and I can firmly attest, English language skills are critical to becoming a successful MD.

I bet he can say " Open your mouth, please!" though can sound like "Open your mouse..."........

 

[WholeLottaGame7]

I hope this person proves me wrong, and if they're half as smart as they seem to say they are, they just might. Say what you will, but if I was a PD and read a personal statement worded anything like that, or was reading a similarly worded MCAT essay, or had to suffer thru that sort of grammer during an oral board exam, it would be a definite problem for me no matter how smart they came across on paper. And don't even start implying I have something against FMG's. I was good friends with an FMG in med school who had been trying for 14 years to get into residency in the US after getting his MD in China. His language skills were his foremost obstacle to getting into a program, as he couldn't pass the Step 2CS exam. I took time out my fourth year to tutor him in english and medical terminiology on the side, and guess what, after 14 years, he finally matched into an FP program. So I have seen this problem up close and even helped someone thru it, and I can firmly attest, English language skills are critical to becoming a successful MD.

I've taken the liberty of highlighting a few spelling and capitalization errors you made in your post. Maybe you should work on that.

My point(s)? 1) It's an internet forum. Since when has grammar/spelling counted for anything? Many respected individuals on here are far worse. 2) I agree, there is a certain degree of mastery of the English language required to be a good physician, but I don't think the OP is in danger of falling short of that. Hell, I've known people born and raised in the US who have worse grammar.

 

[WholeLottaGame7]

1. I am currently in 6 AP classes this year and will be at top 5% by the end of the year if things go as planned...which they seem to be for now. high A's (95, 96) and will be attending clubs and extra curricular activities soon. so here's a question that i would like to ask, will any prestigious/good college help to increase the chance of getting into a good medical school? or would any college and medical school result in same outcome?

again, thank you.

As are many things in life, this is a risk/benefit analysis that only you can know. If you are intelligent, hard-working, and can make connections, there is no reason not to go to an affordable (yet respectable) state school for both undergrad and medical school. If you think you might need a little extra help from name-recognition, maybe it'd be worth it to spend a little more. That's only for you to know.

 

[Fastrach]

Thank you, wholelotta, the irony of my non-spellchecked post is not lost on me. I won't be wasting anymore of your or my time trying to pass along a different perpective on this thread- you're right, I'm wrong. 2nd grade level language skills are more than adequate to become an anesthesiologist, as well as an entrepreneur. 🙄

 

[Makaka]

Thank you, wholelotta, the irony of my non-spellchecked post is not lost on me. I won't be wasting anymore of your or my time trying to pass along a different perpective on this thread- you're right, I'm wrong. 2nd grade level language skills are more than adequate to become an anesthesiologist, as well as an entrepreneur. 🙄

One of the most important skills in learning to become a physician is to be able to communicate in a coherent and predictable way with other health care professionals. This is why so much emphasis is placed on learning to present patients and write H&Ps in 3rd and 4th year. So, Fastrach, in this sense you ARE right. With this in mind, I was able to understand every word and comment the OP, and you, have made even with the multiple grammar and spelling mistakes.

 

[Makaka]

"big breasts"..."big, deep breasts"...

I love it!

 

[WholeLottaGame7]

Thank you, wholelotta, the irony of my non-spellchecked post is not lost on me. I won't be wasting anymore of your or my time trying to pass along a different perpective on this thread- you're right, I'm wrong. 2nd grade level language skills are more than adequate to become an anesthesiologist, as well as an entrepreneur. 🙄

I'm not disagreeing that language skills are not important to being a doctor. My point is, a forum post is a terrible way of judging language skills, because people just don't give a damn what they sound like on a message board. No one's telling copro or militarymd or whoever to clean up their internet grammar. And this is a high schooler, who's been in the country who knows how long. If they do need to work on their skills, they have time to do it.

Honestly, I'm more concerned about a high school teacher telling someone, "why don't you try being an anesthesiologist or an entrepreneur?" So random...

 

[suush1]

I'm not disagreeing that language skills are not important to being a doctor. My point is, a forum post is a terrible way of judging language skills, because people just don't give a damn what they sound like on a message board. No one's telling copro or militarymd or whoever to clean up their internet grammar. And this is a high schooler, who's been in the country who knows how long. If they do need to work on their skills, they have time to do it.

Honestly, I'm more concerned about a high school teacher telling someone, "why don't you try being an anesthesiologist or an entrepreneur?" So random...

ah thank you for understanding..
i didn't really aim to use perfect english when writing on the forum... :x
dear fastrach, i came to us from japan about 5 years ago...and i took the psat and received 225 as a national merit and will be taking sat soon next year or so.

haha about the teacher, it was a long story...
he didn't randomly suggest it, we were talking about...literally everything. current events, new generations vs old generation, thanks to him being a world history teacher 🙄

 

[pgg]

No one's telling copro or militarymd or whoever to clean up their internet grammar.

Different situation - we know them, and we know they're not *****s. (Anyway, Coprolalia typically does write in complete sentences and has well organized posts. The guy's ability to think is not in question.)

It's different when you're a new poster, coming to the forum, e-hat in hand, asking for help or advice. Punctuation, use of the shift key, absence of text speak go a long way to compensate for naive, silly, or frequently asked questions.

When you ask inane questions like the OP and write like a kid, it's hard to take the thread seriously. Yes, it's an internet forum and by definition cluttered and informal. You're still asking a bunch of professionals with advanced degrees for help. This isn't an xbox forum.

The OP wouldn't approach an anesthesiologist in the real world and say 'yo dawg wassup, where's the greenbacks at, bizness or gas-passin?' I'm not sure why I should take the forum equivalent of that approach any more seriously.


To the OP, here's what you should do if you want to be an anesthesiologist.

• It doesn't matter one bit what classes you take in high school. Really, it doesn't. Just do well.
• Go to an inexpensive university. Avoid debt. Do very, very well because it's hard to get into medical school. Your major is unimportant provided you take the bare handful of medical school prerequisites.
• Go to an inexpensive medical school. Avoid excessive debt. Do well.

By the time you get to your 3rd and 4th years of medical school and have to choose a specialty, you (like virtually every other med student) will have changed your mind at least a couple times. By then the AANA might have anesthesiologists wearing shock collars like the one my rottweiler wears and the field might not be so appealing.

Good for you for thinking ahead. It's OK to be unsure what you want to do with your life, and it's OK if you don't even know what questions to ask. We've all been there.

Just get in the habit of writing in complete sentences. 🙂

 

[coldweatherblue]

also, enjoy the present. Try to focus on the next step: graduating and doing well in college, rather than what will be happening almost 20 years from now. Enjoy high-school and college because they are once in a lifetime experiences and a lot of good stuff can happen if you play your cards right. 😀

Once you're in college you need to decide if you like medicine and want to go to medical school, or if you'd rather do something else (there are many ways to have an amazing career). Worry about residency and becoming an anesthesiologist *later* because at the moment you can't have a good enough perspective on what is involved with each to be able to make decisions of lasting importance. If you want to know basics about what it is like to be an anesthesiologist or (probably more relevant at the moment) a medical student, there are endless threads on this forum or on pre-allo regarding those topics respectively.