Why Do Anesthesiologists Make More Than Surgeons

[greatnt249]

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Not that I myself really care about the money involved in medicine, I really don't, I would STILL choose medicine if I was going to be unable to pay off med school loans before I died because I don't make over 20K a year

Riiiiiight.🙄 It's one thing to say money is not your #1 priority for wanting to go into medicine, but just to clarify, you don't really have to prove anything to us by acting as if you believe money and medicine should never be in the same sentence. Considering compensation and benefits related to your profession =/= greed or misplaced priorities.

 

[mahnster13]

Haha I am not saying that I wouldn't mind making $300K a year as an anesthesiologist, but I can promise you I am not trying to prove anything.
It may have been a bit much to say I would do it for $20K a year and not being able to pay off my med school loans, but if money were the case I would try to get into investment banking or I would take over my grandpa's masonry business in which he somehow affords to send himself on tons of vacations, goes fishing and hunting all the time, has a nice big house, has a boat, a Corvette and three other cars, gives my family very generous gifts for our birthdays, etc.
But that wasn't the point of my post lol
I was simply stating why I think anesthesiologists get paid more than surgeons. Doesn't help that gas is one of the ones I am most interested in 😉

 

[Zoom-Zoom]

Anyone who tells you that gas makes more than surgeons, and I don't care who they are, is blowin smoke up your arse. This might be true in some cases, for general surgery, but it does not apply at all for surgical subspecialties. Ortho, neuro, uro, plastics, and ophth all make substantially more than your average gas man. Sure, though, G. surgeons definitely get the short end of the stick.

 

[americanpierg]

Simply put, that surgeon wouldn't be able to operate without that anesthesiologist. You know how they did surgeries before the common use of anesthesia? Either get you extremely drunk (can still feel the pain), put a stick of wood in your mouth (can still feel the pain), or perform them in secluded wings of the hospital so the rest of the patients and staff couldn't hear the blood curdling screams of those undergoing surgery (reminds me of a horror movie for some reason). I for one would NOT like to see surgery performed under those conditions, and am extremely thankful for the modern anesthesiologist. Seeing as many modern surgical techniques are made possible by the use of anesthesia (i.e. the surgeon's job kind of depends on having an anesthesiologist), I would say the anesthesiologist definitely deserves a little more compensation.
Not that I myself really care about the money involved in medicine, I really don't, I would STILL choose medicine if I was going to be unable to pay off med school loans before I died because I don't make over 20K a year, but if we are talking about a difference in compensation based on the importance of the work, I would have to lean slightly in favor of the anesthesiologist. However, this does in NO WAY mean that the surgeon's work is not important. He is in there doing the "dirty work," actually, physically making the patient better, he is the quarterback making the big plays while the anesthesiologist is the coach who helps plan out the plays and helps ensure the game is under control.

wow way to make an entire arguement based solely on one side of the spectrum.

YES surgeons will still exist without anesthesiologists. Surgeries will be more difficult, but they will still happen.

BUT will anesthesiologists exist without surgeons? NO.

Your entire arguement just went down the drain. SO, simply put, the anesthesiologist's salary would shrink 10 fold without a surgeon. What would they do, give out free rides on the gas machine at the local amusement park?

 

[CoolWhipp]

[rant]how else are they supposed to get compensated for their inadequacy? just because they "keep people alive" doesn't mean that their job is a fraction as intensive as a surgeon, who too must anticipate, AND needs to follow up on patients, unlike worthless anesthesiologists which are basically rent-a-doctors.
[/rant]

... and you win the most ******ed post of the day award.

 

[insane]

Anesthesiologists come to the OR well before the surgeon, they have to knock out the patient w/o killing them (i.e. Michael Jackson's propofol), they have to continuously monitor the patients vitals. They have to wake up the patient, they have to mange their pain, and I don't know if you've ever talked to someone about pain, but people get b-tchy fast. They have to take horribly long calls, and their hours usually aren't that great. Also anesthesiologists can survive without surgeons, since anesthesia is also used in non surgical procedures i.e. colonoscopys.

 

[greatnt249]

... and you win the most ******ed post of the day award.

Time stamp?

 

[tkim]

wow way to make an entire arguement based solely on one side of the spectrum.

YES surgeons will still exist without anesthesiologists. Surgeries will be more difficult, but they will still happen.

BUT will anesthesiologists exist without surgeons? NO.

Your entire arguement just went down the drain. SO, simply put, the anesthesiologist's salary would shrink 10 fold without a surgeon. What would they do, give out free rides on the gas machine at the local amusement park?

It's clear that you know little about the specialty. They could easily do critical care medicine and work in an intensive care unit, or subspecialize in pain medicine, which pays more - a lot more - than straight up gas-passin'. Neither job requires a surgeon. Educate yourself before you speak.

Ah, I see - you're a presomething. You don't know ****.

 

[Jolie South]

It's clear that you know little about the specialty. They could easily do critical care medicine and work in an intensive care unit, or subspecialize in pain medicine, which pays more - a lot more - than straight up gas-passin'. Neither job requires a surgeon. Educate yourself before you speak.

Yea, pain medicine is hugely important for those folks with chronic pain.

 

[Gallix23]

[rant]how else are they supposed to get compensated for their inadequacy? just because they "keep people alive" doesn't mean that their job is a fraction as intensive as a surgeon, who too must anticipate, AND needs to follow up on patients, unlike worthless anesthesiologists which are basically rent-a-doctors.
[/rant]

oh man, I think that was the most ignorant thing I've heard all day

Next surgery you have, make sure you tell your anesthesiologist what you think of him/her 👍

 

[njbmd]

Why? I mean I'm no stickler for money but I've been shadowing a surgeon and they do more work, are under more stress and face more issues than anesthesiologists yet they are the ones who make more than surgeons...its doesn't make sense to me 😕.

If you are shadowing, you have no idea about what either of these professions do or face. You are looking at a snapshot of one or two days. You can have an opinion but you have no frame of reference to make the above comment. Until you have performed surgery or attempted to figure out what's going on with a patient who has anesthetic complications, you are just blowing smoke.

"Hours of boredom punctuated by seconds of sheer terror" has loads of meaning for most anesthesiologists.

 

[BerlinDude]

I seriously hope that you are being sarcastic.

I appalls me when I hear pre-meds take about salary inequity. Why don't you compare the average doctor salary to your average patient salary?

Yeah, I know, you spent a lot more time and money on school, but come on.

300K/year isn't enough?

👍. If you really want to talk about salary inequity, compare the salaries of US doctors vs foreign doctors.

At some point, you have to stop obsessing with small differences among different specialties and do what you interests you.

 

[AMEHigh]

I worked this summer before med school began and had the chance to shadow/talk to some 3rd and 4th year residents. One of the surgery residents was telling me that typically the anesthesiologist makes more because they're basically responsible for the patient while in surgery and that's what they get paid for. The surgeon on the other hand is responsible for the patient before surgery (pre op), during surgery and after surgery (post op) and they get paid 1 thing for all of that time.

So after the surgery is done the surgeon is still following up with the patient for days and I'm sure sometimes weeks/months, but the anesthesiologist has moved on and is making more money.

I'm sure this varies obviously between the type of surgeon you are. The resident that was talking to me about this was about to begin a fellowship in laproscopic surgery.

 

[CupcakeMD]

👍. If you really want to talk about salary inequity, compare the salaries of US doctors vs foreign doctors.

At some point, you have to stop obsessing with small differences among different specialties and do what you interests you.

Amen

 

[Yudid]

Everybody is so excited bout salaries.... Do u guys go into medicine just because of big money.... ?

 

[ChemEngSoonMD]

Why do rappers make more money than engineers/doctors/scientists? Is it because its harder? who cares.

 

[Yudid]

Why do rappers make more money than engineers/doctors/scientists? Is it because its harder? who cares.

I was thinking bout the same thing... Who cares........

 

[twelvetigers]

Hey, at least you don't have the top-notch salary of a veterinarian to look forward to after all your years of school. It really puts a spring in your step, knowing you could start out in general practice at $60k a year and $250k in debt. 🙄

 

[jyoudan]

My PI is an anesthesiologist. He works both in the hospital and in our lab. I would ask to shadow him but I think it sounds super boring. Have any of you shadowed anesthesiologists? Is it interesting?

I worked with peds anesthesia for a couple summers. Watching an anesthesiologist can be a bit boring at times, after set up its really just monitoring and for someone not really familiar with all the lines running across the screen, such as myself, its a good time to go observe the surgeon. But there definitely are benefits. For example, how to they decide to use general or local, subdural or epidural, how many lines, which drugs can be mixed together, etc. Or something I was always curious about, how do they decide how much saline to give? Honestly, that was just some mystery for awhile.

In short, shadowing with anesthesia is great. You get to watch both the anesthesiologists, specialty surgeons, general surgeons, oncology, the works. Its a great way to observe multiple fields of medicine at once and narrow down what your most interested in.

 

[link2swim06]

Everybody is so excited bout salaries.... Do u guys go into medicine just because of big money.... ?

It is a job when it comes down to it....of course that is not the only reason to go into medicine but that is a legit reason as long as you have other reasons.

People want to be rewarded for the actions and have families, cars, houses, etc.

Whats the problem in that?

 

[Yudid]

It is a job when it comes down to it....of course that is not the only reason to go into medicine but that is a legit reason as long as you have other reasons.

People want to be rewarded for the actions and have families, cars, houses, etc.

Whats the problem in that?

No, its not a problem. Yeah ppl should aim to the better life but if everything comes down just to money then its stupid as minimum (for me). I dont think that life should be about money... life is much more than that

 

[Gallix23]

No, its not a problem. Yeah ppl should aim to the better life but if everything comes down just to money then its stupid as minimum (for me). I dont think that life should be about money... life is much more than that

Yes, but unfortunately the world is run by money. When you're 250k+ in the hole, and you finally become a doctor and find out that you aren't going to be making enough to live the nice life you imagined for a few more years in order to pay off those loans, I would imagine it would suck pretty bad.

 

[AMEHigh]

Everybody is so excited bout salaries.... Do u guys go into medicine just because of big money.... ?

No, but you should really consider the financial implications when you apply to medical school. It would be pretty ignorant of you to go into the medical field not thinking about monetary compensation.

Most people will come out of school with a decent amount of debt; therefore it's necessary to get paid a decent amount to pay it off. Also, many of us will be into our 30s before we finish school, residency, fellowship, etc. This means we have some catching up to do as far as salary goes...saving money, saving for retirement, etc.

I could go on and on, but yeah in any job it's important to think of the time you'll put in and the compensation you'll receive.

 

[Bunny Fru Fru]

Both anesthesiologists and surgeons have their positives and negatives.
This video "Anesthetist's Hymn" is hilarious!!
Check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuZl9tRqjoQ

 

[doctor712]

I don't think anyone can really answer the "why" question the OP posted here, or whether on its face it's true.

Often people like to equate length of training with income and you cannot do that in medicine. Anesthesia residency is 4 years, Gen Surg is longer. Each have their fellowships. So the training is longer for a gen surgeon, on average. An interventional cardiologist needs PGY-7 (3+3+1) to get licensed, yet a Family Practitioner who is done in three years, working somewhere (very) rural, might make more than that cards guy who is in an academic center making 250K in a major city. Instead of his pp brethren making 800K putting in stents in Boca Raton.

So, training and length of training, just doesn't = $ in medicine. There are too many variables. Perhaps heart surgeons and brain surgeons are the exception in the surgery field.

Anesthesiologists jump into this mix here too. Some go into academia without fellowship and make their 275K, others get PEDS, or Pain and Hearts fellowships and step into private practice, in rural Virginia, and make 450K off the bat. It's really about how and where you choose to practice. Though, on its face, Gas is a higher paying specialty than many others.

I think Shemarty is right, I've spent months shadowing and observing anesthesia, 500 hours at least. It's fascinating if you have an interest in physiology, chemistry, etc. There will ALWAYS be the Surgeon v Anesthesia debate: who is more important, who is better compensated, who came first, who sits higher on the totem pole, can one exist without the other...bla bla. Anesthesia is a procedure laden profession that is well compensated. And, as you can see in the news recently, Michael Jackson, it's not just about infusing sedatives and saying nighty nighty and time to wake up. It's truly mind-blowing what these guys do. But take it with a grain of salt, I love everything about it.

We could probably set up every profession against another in medicine and ask these questions, why do radiologists make good money when pediatricians don't, typically. But these are things we are unlikely to change, however, valid questions in and of themselves.

D712

 

[TcuTcuca]

What would they do, give out free rides on the gas machine at the local amusement park?

They might actually make more money that way, with a small charge, of course.

 

[theBruceWayne]

Everybody is so excited bout salaries.... Do u guys go into medicine just because of big money.... ?

yes 😀

 

[theBruceWayne]

They might actually make more money that way, with a small charge, of course.

its like a legal drug cartel

 

[Amazingmuzmo]

Are you a necromancer?

 

[Frazier]

Are you a necromancer?

No, he is the batman.

 

[username456789]

And a better question is why do dermatologists make more than family practice doctors?

Increased patient volume and higher billing visits.

 

[MadRadLad]

If you understand football at all:

The surgeon is the QB. Everyone knows his name. Gets all the credit.
The anesthesiologist is the left tackle. If he's doing his job, nobody knows his name. But the QB can't work without him.

 

[911 Turbo]

If you understand football at all:

The surgeon is the QB. Everyone knows his name. Gets all the credit.
The anesthesiologist is the left tackle. If he's doing his job, nobody knows his name. But the QB can't work without him.

uhhh.......

 

[LuciusVorenus]

Are you a necromancer?

I was a freshman when this thread was started :|

 

[HopefulSlav]

I was shadowing an orthopod and he said the device rep from DePuy made more than him.

 

[Erdict]

Ok, big difference in job requirements, especially volume. Surgeons do maybe 10-20 cases per week, as they need consultation hours for regularly scheduled surgeries. Anesthesiologists manage 2 or 3 rooms every day depending on if they manage CRNAs or Residents. They can do as many as 60-100 cases per week, and they don't meet patients on days prior to the surgery as surgeons may do for non-emergency cases. The sheer volume creates a vastly different job experience. It tends to be very stressful. Do not go into this field if you don't have a high tolerance for stress.

There is also a difference in employment. Surgeon groups will higher out anesthesiology companies to manage their patients. They don't typically or necessarily work for the same industry. Often times a surgeon isn't employed but instead is contracted by a hospital, while the hospital employs anesthesiologists as well as other OR personnel to manage their patients during the surgery.

 

[OrthoTraumaMD]

You’re resurrecting a very old thread, but no. Anesthesiologists don’t make more than surgeons. At least not more than specialty surgeons. General surgeons, yes. But not specialists.

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[Goro]

You’re resurrecting a very old thread, but no. Anesthesiologists don’t make more than surgeons. At least not more than specialty surgeons. General surgeons, yes. But not specialists.
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I hope my pal @HomeSkool won't get pissed by that chart!

 

[OrthoTraumaMD]

I hope my pal @HomeSkool won't get pissed by that chart!

Well it’s just the latest medscape physician compensation report. Numbers are numbers, no sense getting mad. It’s still a great job. 🙂 the reason I highlighted Ortho is because I was using the chart for a talk I gave to some med students.


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[FlavivirusProtease]

I hope my pal @HomeSkool won't get pissed by that chart!

@HomeSkool is shook by this whole thread

 

[Select All That Apply]

SDN Civil War.

 

[HomeSkool]

What's there to be mad about? I have a sweet job, a great lifestyle, and an enormous paycheck. Anyone who has what I have and complains about not having more deserves to lose it all. @OrthoTraumaMD and I both picked what we enjoy and get compensated extremely well for doing it.

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[CyrusHabs7695]

What's there to be mad about? I have a sweet job, a great lifestyle, and an enormous paycheck. Anyone who has what I have and complains about not having more deserves to lose it all.

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What kind of physician are you, I feel like everyone knows except me lol

 

[LebronManning]

You’re resurrecting a very old thread, but no. Anesthesiologists don’t make more than surgeons. At least not more than specialty surgeons. General surgeons, yes. But not specialists.
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When you consider length of training as well as the fact that anesthesiologists work less than those specialty surgeons, they may still make more. Anesthesiologists who are partners working 65-70 hrs are making 500+

 

[Goro]

What kind of physician are you, I feel like everyone knows except me lol

He's in Gas

 

[OrthoTraumaMD]

What's there to be mad about? I have a sweet job, a great lifestyle, and an enormous paycheck. Anyone who has what I have and complains about not having more deserves to lose it all. @OrthoTraumaMD and I both picked what we enjoy and get compensated extremely well for doing it.

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I couldn’t have said it better myself. 🙂 I can’t do my job without anesthesia.... though I often poke fun at them and ask them where they are in their sudoku puzzle... at which point my anesthesiologist asks me if I remember where the heart is. I don’t. It’s all good.


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[getdown]

In all honesty, you couldn't pay me enough to do surgery and go through a surgical residency. I'm quite happy with my current position, a nice paycheck and plenty of time to spend with the wife and new baby.

Let me be the first to warn the premeds on here that if degree of compensation is what is motivating you to choose a specialty you're going to get burned out quick. Money only goes so far in making you enjoy what you do. You're going to be doing your chosen field for the rest of your life and each field will come with its own set of challenges and BS you'll have to deal with. If you go into a field for the wrong reasons, you're going to be that angry doctor who hates what he does but is in too much of a debt to do anything about it.