Would anesthesiology be a good fit for me?

[downundervictoria]

A little bit about me, I enjoy pharmacology. I love knowing about how drugs work on a human body. I was quite into art when I was younger. I'm fairly quiet and I believe that I have a genuine care to help people. I especially like caring for children and have always been told I have a way with them. Sometimes I feel I am too empathetic to become a surgeon, that even though they are anaesthetised, I could feel their pain. Please tell me I'm not the only one who thinks like this. I do like patient interaction as I've lived in 4 different continents and appreciate and respect different cultures. I like having a good rapport with other employees, as I'm a firm believer in that when people dislike their job, it's usually because of who they work with. I'm the type of person that if I'm disrespected, I will continue to not lower myself to their level. We all have some type of ego to some extent (I believe) but I am definitely not narcissistic.

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[Nivens]

I'm post-call so forgive the slightly shorter response, but it's very difficult for us to predict if anesthesiology is good fit for you based on a few sentences of (likely biased) self-reflection. When I was a medical student, there was a personality test we could take on the the AAMC website. It was 100 some-odd questions, and I must have taken it a half-dozen times. No matter how hard I tried to be objective, the results always skewed toward whatever specialty I was particularly hot on in that moment. Us hearing that you "respect different cultures", "like having a good rapport with other employees", and are "definitely not narcissistic", doesn't really tell us how you'll react when a surgeon barks at you to transfuse the stable patient with a HCT of 29 at two in the morning, nor does it predict how you'll feel when the circulating nurse asks if you "checked with the doctor before you did that block". I know a bunch of brilliant people who professed to "enjoy pharmacology", but simply can't handle the sort of action-oriented nature of our practice and way of making decisions. Anesthesiology is really cool, being an anesthesiologist can sometimes really suck, and at the end of the day many of us couldn't predict for ourselves how good of a fit it was/is/will be.

I know this is unsatisfying advice, but the very best thing you can do is immerse yourself in as many specialties as possible and try and find your tribe.

 

[deleted763299]

More information would be helpful. Where are you at in life? Are you a medical student, college student, high school student, etc? What kind of exposure, if any, have you had to anesthesiology or to the operating room environment? What country are you currently living in?

 

[AdmiralChz]

Anesthesiology is really cool, being an anesthesiologist can sometimes really suck, and at the end of the day many of us couldn't predict for ourselves how good of a fit it was/is/will be.

True for all specialties, that’s why talking with current physicians in the field is so important.

OP, where are you with regards to training - college/med school, high school? Looks like you might be in Australia, which has a different training model that the US so or advice might be limited. @bashwell is an Aussie I think, but haven’t seen him in a while

 

[TheOther]

talking with current physicians in the field is so important.

Honestly, this part alone is enough to drive one mad haha. Weighing pros and cons of a number of specialties based on what different docs say can be overwhelming.
Not to say it shouldn't be done -- just that it shouldn't be expected that things will necessarily become clearer.

 

[leaverus]

More information would be helpful. Where are you at in life? Are you a medical student, college student, high school student, etc? What kind of exposure, if any, have you had to anesthesiology or to the operating room environment? What country are you currently living in?

disagree. more information won't help with anything. there are ALL types in anesthesia - in my group of 20 alone there are outstanding anesthesiologists who are nothing like what the poster describes. no one can answer this question for downundervictoria. she's essentially asked the equivalent of picking a stock that will make her a billionaire.

 

[atomheart]

Hi, I am a medical student that is also interested in the field of anesthesiology. Part of the trouble of deciding on specialty is that it's not as easy as saying "I like x, y, z, what should I be?". I am by no means an expert, but there are a few books about choosing medical specialties, and I would recommend "The Ultimate Guide to Choosing a Medical Specialty" by Brian Freeman. One approach to finding your specialty is honestly evaluating your own dislikes to complement whatever you enjoy. For example:

I enjoy pharmacology

Do you also enjoy physiology, pathophysiology, and anatomy? What do you not like? Do you like all of pharmacology or a specific subset of drugs? Do you see yourself as a well-rounded physician or focused on a distinct knowledge area?

I'm fairly quiet and I believe that I have a genuine care to help people

Are you able to speak up and confront other physicians when you genuinely believe the patient is in danger, or are you more likely to hang back?

I especially like caring for children

Are there patients you would not feel comfortable treating? Drug addicts? Obstetric or other surgical emergencies including trauma? Are you able to apply critical care and emergency care to all types of patients?

Sometimes I feel I am too empathetic to become a surgeon

Are you able to control your emotions and think objectively and rapidly during a life-threatening situation? How do you feel about the OR? How do you feel about procedures? Are you the type of person with "hair on the chest", and able to perform invasive, but life-saving procedures without freezing up? Sometimes anesthesiology attracts applicants that would be perfect in a surgery specialty.

I do like patient interaction

Are you comfortable with brief interaction, or do you like deeper conversations surrounding patient management, diagnosis, treatment, discharge, and follow-up? Do you like solving patient problems and being a detective? Do you like being the one who controls the management of the patient, or would you rather briefly consult other physician's patients? How do you feel about monitoring the physical, objective measurements of patient physiology rather than asking them about symptoms directly? Do you feel like you could be an airplane pilot and monitor different measurements simultaneously? How about flying multiple airplanes simultaneously? How would you respond to an angry patient who threateningly demands pain medication?

I like having a good rapport with other employees...

How would you respond to a nurse or fellow physician that wanted to follow their own anesthetic and patient management plans that conflicted with your own? Do you feel like you could be the leader of a team, or would you rather be on equal footing with everyone else? Can you both take direction from others and be a leader or are you better at one or the other? Sometimes anesthesiologists can end up being the antagonist or "the bad guy" to both patients and other caregivers.

Please do not spend time answering in another post, these are just questions I formulated in response to your original post that I asked to myself. I have noticed that a lot of specialties fit a lot of different personalities. I don't think I'm qualified to answer whether you fit into anesthesiology, but I recommend searching out all the negatives about every specialty and asking yourself if you would be comfortable with them your entire career, just as I would recommend looking at all the positives and considering if not having one of them would be a deal breaker for the specialty. There are lots of career modifications you can make to fit your personality like becoming a pain physician if the OR isn't for you. Overall, there are lots of negatives (and positives) posted about anesthesiology on this forum so use it as a tool to determine if you fit. I hope this helps.

Thanks.