Still, things tend to fit into a sensible world-view, right? Those who work hard get rewarded and those who are lazy end up on the bottom.
We all know that life isn't by any stretch of the imagination fair, and that the world often works in chaos-mode. Kids starve in Africa, bad things happen to good people, the hard-working go unrewarded and the hero goes unsung.
In medical specialties, I came to the realization that things do have an internal order. The specialties with a better lifestyle/income are predictably harder to match into because of competition resulting from too many students vying for few coveted spots.
"Better/Lifestyle" specialties equal harder to get while "Not-so-fun/lower-income" specialties *cough* Family Medicine *cough* are easy to match into because "nobody" wants them. It makes sense...work hard to match into dermatology, get the 9-5, Monday-Friday hours, no call, and (extremely) high pay. Screw around, mess up your USMLE Step I score, and get matched into FM with long hours, call, and lower pay.
But someone has messed up my lofty world-view!
Anesthesiology! You dastardly creature! I do not get you...
From what I hear, you are (relatively) easy to match into, pay well, have super hours, are definitely a "lifestyle" specialty, and don't even have many litigation issues. Wait...easy to match into? How does that work? One of my EM-bloggers, EM Physician, puts it so eloquently:
For one, [anesthesiology] was a very easy specialty to get into. Not a whole lot of butt kissing involved. The salary was great. The job market, wide-open. It was known as a ‘life-style’ specialty, which allowed time to enjoy life outside of medicine, and that appealed to me. Anesthesiologists only deal with one patient at a time, and they sit all day (and read magazines) behind the curtain. What a life!!
So that's what I hear...the 90% boredom, 10% super-crazy life of the anesthesiologist. And medical students don't know anything about the specialty unless they do a rotation on it during medical school. Is it a closely-guarded secret? Is it a conspiracy? Is there a hidden evil in the specialty that nobody knows about?
*shakes head* I just can't accept this. A lifestyle specialty like that, so easy to match into. What ails it? An uncertain future (all of medicine faces this, though)? Encroachment from mid-levels?
Anesthesiology, you puzzle me with your defiance of logic. At the least, you make me very curious. I do not know what I want to specialize in, but I hope to unlock your secrets one day. That's for sure.
2 comments:
Hi - I'm an anesthesiologist, so I couldn't resist leaving you a little comment. Aneshtesiology is a very poorly understood specialty by those who aren't involved in it, but I can say from experience that it's physically and intellectually more demanding than it looks. And you have to use much more anatomy and physiology in your day-to-day work than most physicians. For a great summary of it, see Panda Bear's description (I notice you link to that blog): "Anesthesiology:
A poorly understood specialty, especially among surgeons who tend to look at the anethesiologist in the same way airline pilots look at flight attendants...If you think about it though, it’s the anesthesiologist flying the plane while the surgeons tinker around in the cabin. The anesthesiologist is responsible for keeping the patient alive and neurologically intact during the procedure.
...The anethesiology residents carry a lot of weight when they are on call, especially when there is a code. We almost never attempt an intubation of what looks to be a difficult airway without having them standing by. I’ve seen an Emergency Medicine Chief resident and a Medicine chief resident both fail to get an airway which the anesthesia junior resident put in while still half-asleep.
They also know the ACLS protocols backwards and forwards as they use them on a regular basis."
Ithink you have to be a deeply committed physician to practice anesthesiology well. Good luck with med school!
t.,
Your comment is greatly appreciated! I didn't think anyone read my blog...but I certainly did not expect an actual anesthesiologist to comment!
I've spent time researching various specialties while I have time to muse over such things, and I want to make it clear that I do indeed have a great respect for your specialty. It is even quite high on my list of possibilities, because I enjoy the elements of the specialty that I've seen so far.
Thanks so much again for your input and I'll remember what you've said. Take care,
-DY
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