Choosing the right specialty is a challenge for medical students. In fact, it is one of the biggest decisions medical students will make during medical school. Some students know what career path they will choose before starting their medical school journey, while others make this important decision during clinical years. Some specialties require personal interests, skills, and experience during clinical rotations. The key is to carefully consider all aspects before making a final choice.
Anesthesiology is one of the most exciting medical specialties, providing medical graduates with unique learning opportunities. It is a challenging yet interesting medical field that provides physicians with an opportunity to deal with stressful situations and make smart decisions quickly. Anesthesiologists are medical specialists that can develop a pain management plan and deliver medications before, during and after surgery.
If truth be told, anesthesiologists play a pivotal role in the operating room. After getting years of education, and specialized training, anesthesiologists are trained to create a perfect mix of medications to keep patients unconscious and comfortable during and after a surgical process.
If you are unsure whether anesthesiology is a good fit or not, this post will help you make a well-informed decision.
Let’s explore
Exciting Career Opportunities
Anesthesiology is one of the highest paying, intellectually demanding and fast-paced medical specialties that attract a majority of applicants. It provides you with numerous practice options. You can either practice in operation theaters, with a group of people administering office-based anesthesia, or find diverse career opportunities in pain management centers, medical centers, invasive radiology, gastroendoscopy, and electrophysiology. Depending on the subspecialty residency program, you will become an anesthesiologist, anesthesiologist assistant, anesthesia technician, certified anesthesia technician, and certified anesthesia technologist.
Flexible Working Hours
The field gives you the complete freedom to set your working hours, you can either choose to work part-time. Anesthesiologists work in hospitals, medical centers, pain management centers, and clinics. Since, working as an anesthetist, you are responsible for providing wide-ranging support to patients during surgical and psychiatric procedures. You don’t need to work continuously with their patients as you will spend the majority of your time in operating theaters, and intensive care units. Due to the nature of work, you don’t need to be present in the office from 9 to 5. Working hours are planned; you can go home and return to work for the next anesthetic procedure. However, on-call requirements vary from early mornings to late nights to weekends.
Diverse Field with Exciting Learning Opportunities
Anesthesiology is a diverse medical field that provides physicians with an opportunity to provide care for patients of all ages with a broad range of medical conditions. From childbirth to trauma, heart, lungs and brain surgeries, anesthesiologists get the opportunity to deal with different types of medical cases.
Anesthesiologists also provide pain management and critical care to patients undergoing different surgical procedures by using a broad knowledge base in pharmacology, anatomy and physiology. Anesthesiologists also get the opportunity to work with highly advanced medical devices, gadgets and technology. They use cutting-edge medical devices to monitor patients’ vital signs and critical life functions before, during and after surgery.
Perform Different Procedures
The field of anesthesiology provides medical graduates with an exciting opportunity to perform a myriad of clinical procedures. From administering epidurals to intubations, airways, and IVs, anesthesiologists can perform a lot of clinical and surgical procedures to ensure patients’ safety and minimize pain. These specialists are trained to be vigilant, observant and take quick actions to care for patients with life-threatening conditions.
Deal with a Variety of Medical Cases
From neurological cases to cardiac patients, pediatrics to expecting women, critical care to orthopedics, being an anesthesiologist, you will deal with a variety of medical cases. Since anesthesiologists care for patients of all ages, it is critically important to understand the medical condition of every patient and have the skills to take care of every patient undergoing the surgical procedure in the operation theater. It’s simply not about putting the patient to sleep; you need to be very careful and well-versed in how each of the surgical specialties operates. You need to discuss the medical condition of the patient with the surgeon and monitor screens to make sure they remain in a stable condition during and after surgery.
Attractive Salary Prospects
It is one of the best reasons that attract more and more medical school graduates to choose anesthesiology as their future career. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the salary of an anesthesiologist ranges between $343,600 and $449,600. The demand for anesthesiologists is relatively high compared with other medical professions. The high demand for the number of certified professionals in this field makes this medical specialty a lucrative one. This is why anesthesiologists earn more than average physicians, surgeons, and specialists.
Wrapping it Up
All in all, anesthesiology is undeniably the most lucrative career in medicine in terms of income, available hours, job description and more. If you are thinking of becoming an anesthesiologist, getting into Windsor University School of Medicine is a great option that prepares you for this rewarding medical job.
