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Career profile Anesthesiologst

Also known as Anesthesiologist, Attending Anesthesiologist, Medical Doctor (MD), Obstetrical Anesthesiologist, Physician Anesthesiologist, Staff Anesthesiologist, Staff Anesthetist

Anesthesiologst

Also known as Anesthesiologist, Attending Anesthesiologist, Medical Doctor (MD)

Interests Profile
  • Investigative
  • Realistic
  • Social
Pay Range
$136,180 - $208,000+ (annual)
Required Skills
  • Critical Thinking
  • Active Listening
  • Monitoring
Knowledge Areas
  • Medicine and Dentistry
  • Biology
  • Chemistry
Core tasks
  • Monitor patient before, during, and after anesthesia and counteract adverse reactions or complications.
  • Record type and amount of anesthesia and patient condition throughout procedure.
  • Provide and maintain life support and airway management and help prepare patients for emergency surgery.
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What does an Anesthesiologst do?

Anesthesiologsts administer anesthetics and analgesics for pain management prior to, during, or after surgery.

What kind of tasks does an Anesthesiologst perform regularly?

Anesthesiologsts are often responsible for overseeing or executing some or all of the following tasks:

  • Monitor patient before, during, and after anesthesia and counteract adverse reactions or complications.
  • Record type and amount of anesthesia and patient condition throughout procedure.
  • Provide and maintain life support and airway management and help prepare patients for emergency surgery.
  • Administer anesthetic or sedation during medical procedures, using local, intravenous, spinal, or caudal methods.
  • Examine patient, obtain medical history, and use diagnostic tests to determine risk during surgical, obstetrical, and other medical procedures.
  • Position patient on operating table to maximize patient comfort and surgical accessibility.
  • Coordinate administration of anesthetics with surgeons during operation.
  • Decide when patients have recovered or stabilized enough to be sent to another room or ward or to be sent home following outpatient surgery.
  • Confer with other medical professionals to determine type and method of anesthetic or sedation to render patient insensible to pain.
  • Order laboratory tests, x-rays, and other diagnostic procedures.
  • Inform students and staff of types and methods of anesthesia administration, signs of complications, and emergency methods to counteract reactions.
  • Provide medical care and consultation in many settings, prescribing medication and treatment and referring patients for surgery.
  • Manage anesthesiological services, coordinating them with other medical activities and formulating plans and procedures.
  • Diagnose illnesses, using examinations, tests, and reports.
  • Coordinate and direct work of nurses, medical technicians, and other health care providers.
  • Instruct individuals and groups on ways to preserve health and prevent disease.

The above responsibilities are specific to Anesthesiologsts. More generally, Anesthesiologsts are involved in several broader types of activities:

Making Decisions and Solving Problems
Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
Assisting and Caring for Others
Providing personal assistance, medical attention, emotional support, or other personal care to others such as coworkers, customers, or patients.
Getting Information
Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge
Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings
Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.

What is an Anesthesiologst salary?

The median salary for an Anesthesiologst is over $208,000, and the average salary is $271,440. Both the median and average roughly describe the middle of the Anesthesiologst salary range, but the average is more easily affected by extremely high or low salaries.

Many Anesthesiologsts earn significantly more or less than the average, due to several factors. About 10% of Anesthesiologsts earn less than $136,180 per year, 25% earn less than $208,000, 75% earn more than $208,000, and 90% earn more than $208,000.

Between the years of 2020 and 2030, the number of Anesthesiologsts is expected to change by -0.3%, and there should be roughly 800 open positions for Anesthesiologsts every year.

Median annual salary
Over $208,000
Typical salary range
$136,180 - Over $208,000
Projected growth (2020 - 2030)
-0.3%

What personality traits are common among Anesthesiologsts?

Interests

Career interests describe a person's preferences for different types of working environments and activities. When a person's interest match the demands of an occupation, people are usually more engaged and satisfied in that role.

Compared to most occupations, those who work as an Anesthesiologst are usually higher in their Investigative, Realistic, and Social interests.

Anesthesiologsts typically have strong Investigative interests. Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

Also, Anesthesiologsts typically have strong Realistic interests. Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

Lastly, Anesthesiologsts typically have strong Social interests. Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.

Values

People differ in their values, or what is most important to them for building job satisfaction and fulfillment.

Compared to most people, those working as an Anesthesiologst tend to value Achievement, Relationships, and Independence.

Most importantly, Anesthesiologsts very strongly value Achievement. Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment.

Second, Anesthesiologsts very strongly value Relationships. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment.

Lastly, Anesthesiologsts very strongly value Independence. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions.

Psychological Demands

Each occupation brings its own set of psychological demands, which describe the characteristics necessary to perform the job well.

In order to perform their job successfully, people who work as Anesthesiologsts must consistently demonstrate qualities such as attention to detail, dependability, and integrity.

Below, you'll find a list of qualities typically required of Anesthesiologsts, ranked by importance:

Attention to Detail
Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
Dependability
Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Integrity
Job requires being honest and ethical.
Achievement/Effort
Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.
Stress Tolerance
Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations.

What education and training do Anesthesiologsts need?

Many Anesthesiologsts have earned a graduate degree. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a doctoral degree, such as a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D..

Anesthesiologsts may need some on-the-job training, but most candidates will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.

Educational degrees among Anesthesiologsts

  • 100.0% earned a doctorate or professional degree

Knowledge and expertise required by Anesthesiologsts

Anesthesiologsts may benefit from understanding of specialized subject areas, such as medicine and dentistry, biology, or chemistry knowledge.

The list below shows several areas in which most Anesthesiologsts might want to build proficiency, ranked by importance.

Medicine and Dentistry
Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Biology
Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Chemistry
Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Customer and Personal Service
Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Psychology
Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.

Important Abilities needed by Anesthesiologsts

Anesthesiologsts must develop a particular set of abilities to perform their job well. Abilities are individual capacities that influence a person's information processing, sensory perception, motor coordination, and physical strength or endurance. Individuals may naturally have certain abilities without explicit training, but most abilities can be sharpened somewhat through practice.

For example, Anesthesiologsts need abilities such as problem sensitivity, oral comprehension, and deductive reasoning in order to perform their job at a high level. The list below shows several important abilities for Anesthesiologsts, ranked by their relative importance.

Problem Sensitivity
The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Oral Comprehension
The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Deductive Reasoning
The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Written Comprehension
The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Inductive Reasoning
The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).

Critical Skills needed by Anesthesiologsts

Skills are developed capacities that enable people to function effectively in real-world settings. Unlike abilities, skills are typically easier to build through practice and experience. Skills influence effectiveness in areas such as learning, working with others, design, troubleshooting, and more.

Anesthesiologsts frequently use skills like critical thinking, active listening, and monitoring to perform their job effectively. The list below shows several critical skills for Anesthesiologsts, ranked by their relative importance.

Critical Thinking
Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Active Listening
Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Monitoring
Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Judgment and Decision Making
Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Reading Comprehension
Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.

What is the source of this information?

The information provided on this page is adapted from data and descriptions published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration under the CC BY 4.0 license. TraitLab has modified some information for ease of use and reading, and the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment, and Training Administration has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

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