The medical industry is looking at some terrible shortages across many fields. If you are considering a job in medicine, then this is a great time to be looking into medical school as you are going to be in high demand.
One of those jobs that always have the opportunity is an anesthesiologist. It is a tough job and will require you to wear a lot of hats, but it is in demand and has a lot of benefits. It pays well, in fact, you will make more than a surgeon as an on call anesthesiologist.
And if you want to make sure you are able to pay down your student loans quickly, then this is a great way to ensure that you can.
But, is it the right job for you? What does an anesthesiologist do anyway?
Let’s take a look.
Pain Relief for Surgery
This is the part of the job that most people are familiar with. You will be responsible for administering the proper dose of anesthesia.
To do this effectively, the anesthesiologist will have a meeting with the patient. Good communication skills are vital for this job as you will need to make sure to understand everything you need to know about the patient. An open personality that comes off as friendly and confident goes a long way, too.
On the day of the operation, the anesthesiologist will administer the anesthesia to the patient to not only make sure they are asleep for the entire duration but that they are also safe at the same time.
There is general anesthesia that takes over the entire body. The patient is asleep for the entire procedure and won’t feel any type of pain anywhere on the body.
Then there is sedation. In this scenario, a shot is injected into the patient making them unaware of what is happening. It is used mainly to calm a violent patient or one that is having a psychotic episode.
Regional anesthesia is simply when a specific area is injected with a painkiller to be able to operate in that area. Think of getting stitches and having the area numbed beforehand.
During general anesthesia, the anesthesiologist is there to monitor the patient and make sure that vital organs are functioning properly.
Post Surgery
When the surgery is complete, the job of the anesthesiologist is not over. Now, he or she has to reverse the effects of the anesthesia and bring them slowly and safely out of their sleeping state.
After that, they will need to continue to monitor the patient to make sure that there were no adverse effects from the drugs.
Specializations
There isn’t just one type of anesthesiologist just like there isn’t one type of surgeon. Many need to specialize in and devote their career to mastering one type of surgery.
For instance, there are pediatric anesthesiologists, cardiac and even obstetric. The more specialized they are, the more in demand, also.
