Medical Careers Spotlight: Anesthesiologist

An anesthesiologist is a doctor who is specially trained to administer anesthesia. It is one of the fastest growing medical careers according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. What is anesthesia you might ask? Your best friend in the operating room. It is the stuff that puts you to sleep during a surgical procedure so surgeons can open you up, scramble things around and stitch you back together, while you are comfortably sleeping in la-la land.

An anesthesiologist’s main job is to make sure that you feel no pain. They do this by monitoring the patient’s vital life functions—heart rate, body temperature, blood pressure and breathing and then adjusting the level of anesthesia when necessary.

Pay

One of the biggest benefits of this job is that it pays well and let’s be honest, money is important. If everybody just picked their career according only to what they liked to do this nation would be overrun with ice cream taste testers and professional poker players. The median salary for an anesthesiologist is $197,570.

Perks

Next to money, job satisfaction is another top concern in career choice. There is satisfaction to be found in being in the anesthesia field.

Anesthesiologists help people when they are the most vulnerable: on the operating table.

They take away their pain. They assist in improving the quality of life for others.

Preparation

• A four-year undergraduate degree
• Medical School
• Certification

Profiling

According to the Myers Briggs Personality Test, anesthesiologist’s are often most often associated with the SF personality (Sensing and Feeling) type.

This personality type deals well with change, gets along with others easily, is most often characterized as the “friendly doer.”

Did you know?

• Redheads require more anesthetic blondes and brunettes.
• Anesthesia was given its name from American physician Oliver Wendell Holmes and in Greek it means “no sensation.”