Activities	Anesthesiologists focus on the care of surgical patients and pain relief. Like other physicians, they evaluate and treat patients. efforts of their staffs. These critical care specialists are responsible for maintenance of the patient’s vital life functions—heart rate, body temperature, blood pressure, breathing—during surgery. They also work outside of the operating room, providing pain relief in the intensive care unit, during labor and delivery, and for those who suffer from chronic pain.
Outlook	Faster-than-average-job growth
Median Income	$311,600 per year in 2009*
Work Context & Conditions	Must be highly accurate in performing the job. It's important that every task is performed completely. May work long, irregular hours.
Minimum Education Requirements	M.D.
Skills	Learning Strategies, Monitoring, Critical Thinking, Operation and Control, Active Listening, Writing, Service Orientation, Equipment Selection, Time Management, Troubleshooting, Active Learning, Complex Problem Solving, Judgment and Decision Making, Operation Monitoring, Coordination, Speaking, Science
Abilities	Oral Expression, Speech Recognition, Deductive Reasoning, Problem Sensitivity, Written Comprehension, Near Vision, Speech Clarity, Inductive Reasoning, Oral Comprehension

Job Category		Healthcare Practitioners & Technical
Job Description		Anesthesiologists focus on the care of surgical patients and pain relief. Like other physicians, they evaluate and treat patients and direct the efforts of their staffs. Through continual monitoring and assessment, these critical care specialists are responsible for maintenance of the patient’s vital life functions—heart rate, body temperature, blood pressure, breathing—during surgery. They also work outside of the operating room, providing pain relief in the intensive care unit, during labor and delivery, and for those who suffer from chronic pain. Anesthesiologists confer with other physicians and surgeons about appropriate treatments and procedures before, during, and after operations.
Working Conditions		Anesthesiologists must be highly accurate in performing their job, and it's important that every task is performed completely. Consequences for mistakes that aren't readily correctable are very serious. Many anesthesiologists work long, irregular hours. More than one-third of all full-time physicians work 60 hours or more a week. They must travel frequently between office and hospital to care for their patients.
Salary Range		Physicians have among the highest earnings of any occupation. According to the 2009-2010 data available from the American Medical Association, Health Care Careers Directory, the median income, for anesthesiologist was between $311,600 and $446,994 a year. Self-employed physicians -- those who own or are part owners of their medical practice -- had higher median incomes than salaried physicians. Earnings vary according to number of years in practice, geographic region, hours worked, and skill, personality, and professional reputation.

Education Required		It takes many years of education and training to become a physician: 4 years of undergraduate school, 4 years of medical school, and 3 to 8 years of internship and residency, depending on the specialty selected. A few medical schools offer a combined undergraduate and medical school program that lasts 6 years instead of the customary 8 years. Premedical students must complete undergraduate work in physics, biology, mathematics, English, and inorganic and organic chemistry. Students also take courses in the humanities and the social sciences. Some students also volunteer at local hospitals or clinics to gain practical experience in the health professions. The minimum educational requirement for entry into a medical school is 3 years of college; most applicants, however, have at least a bachelor's degree, and many have advanced degrees. In 2008, there were 129 medical schools in the United States-104 teach allopathic medicine and award a Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree; 25 teach osteopathic medicine and award the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) degree. Acceptance to medical school is very competitive. Applicants must submit transcripts, scores from the Medical College Admission Test, and letters of recommendation. Schools also consider character, personality, leadership qualities, and participation in extracurricular activities. Most schools require an interview with members of the admissions committee. Students spend most of the first 2 years of medical school in laboratories and classrooms taking courses such as anatomy, biochemistry, physiology, pharmacology, psychology, microbiology, pathology, medical ethics, and laws governing medicine. They also learn to take medical histories, examine patients, and diagnose illness. During the last 2 years, students work with patients under the supervision of experienced physicians in hospitals and clinics to learn acute, chronic, preventive, and rehabilitative care. Through rotations in internal medicine, family practice, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry, and surgery, they gain experience in the diagnosis and treatment of illness. Following medical school, almost all M.D.s enter a residency-graduate medical education in a specialty that takes the form of paid on-the-job training, usually in a hospital. Most D.O.s serve a 12-month rotating internship after graduation before entering a residency which may last 2 to 6 years. Physicians may benefit from residencies in managed care settings by gaining experience with this increasingly common type of medical practice. A physician's training is costly and, whereas education costs have increased, student financial assistance has not. More than 80 percent of medical students borrow money to cover their expenses. People who wish to become physicians must have a desire to serve patients, be self-motivated, and be able to survive the pressures and long hours of medical education and practice. Physicians also must have a good bedside manner, emotional stability, and the ability to make decisions in emergencies. Prospective physicians must be willing to study throughout their career to keep up with medical advances. They also will need to be flexible to respond to the changing demands of a rapidly evolving health care environment.
Recommended High School Courses		Biology, Mathematics, English, Chemistry, Physics
Postsecondary Instructional Programs		Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Medicine and Dentistry
Certification and Licensing		All States, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories license physicians. To be licensed, physicians must graduate from an accredited medical school, pass a licensing examination, and complete 1 to 7 years of graduate medical education. Although physicians licensed in one State can usually get a license to practice in another without further examination, some States limit reciprocity. Graduates of foreign medical schools usually can qualify for licensure after passing an examination and completing a U.S. residency. M.D.s and D.O.s seeking board certification in a specialty may spend up to 7 years -- depending on the specialty -- in residency training. A final examination immediately after residency, or after 1 or 2 years of practice, also is necessary for board certification by the American Board of Medical Specialists (ABMS) or the American Osteopathic Association (AOA). There are 24 specialty boards, ranging from allergy and immunology to urology. The AOA has approved 18 specialty boards, ranging from anesthesiology to surgery. For certification in a subspecialty, physicians usually need another 1 to 2 years of residency. For certification in a subspecialty, physicians usually need another 1 to 2 years of residency.

Interest Area		Investigative Involves working with ideas and requires an extensive amount of thinking.
Work Values		Social Status Looked up to by others in their company and their community. Achievement Get a feeling of accomplishment. Social Service Do things for other people. Security Have steady employment. Ability Utilization Make use of individual abilities. Co-workers Have co-workers who are easy to get along with. Recognition Receive recognition for the work you do. Compensation Get paid well in comparison with other workers. Responsibility Make decisions on your own.
Skills		Learning Strategies Use multiple approaches when learning or teaching new things. Monitoring Assess how well someone is doing when learning or doing something. Critical Thinking Use logic and analysis to identify the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches. Operation and Control Control operations of equipment or systems. Active Listening Listen to what other people are saying and ask questions as appropriate. Writing Communicate effectively with others in writing as indicated by the needs of the audience. Service Orientation Actively look for ways to help people. Equipment Selection Determine the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job. Time Management Manage one's own time and the time of others. Troubleshooting Determine what is causing an operating error and deciding what to do about it. Active Learning Work with new material or information to grasp its implications. Complex Problem Solving Solving novel, ill-defined problems in complex, real-world settings. Judgment and Decision Making Be able to weigh the relative costs and benefits of a potential action. Operation Monitoring Watch gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly. Coordination Adjust actions in relation to others' actions. Speaking Talk to others to effectively convey information. Science Use scientific methods to solve problems.
Abilities		Oral Expression Able to convey information and ideas through speech in ways that others will understand. Speech Recognition Identify and understand the speech of another person Deductive Reasoning Able to apply general rules to specific problems to come up with logical answers, including deciding whether an answer makes sense. Problem Sensitivity Able to tell when something is wrong or likely to go wrong. This doesn't involve solving the problem, just recognizing that there is a problem. Written Comprehension Able to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing. Near Vision Able to see details of objects at a close range (within a few feet of the observer). Speech Clarity Able to speak clearly so listeners understand. Inductive Reasoning Able to combine separate pieces of information, or specific answers to problems, to form general rules or conclusions. This includes coming up with a logical explanation for why seemingly unrelated events occur together. Oral Comprehension Able to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

Related Jobs		Dentist, Therapist, Respiratory, Pharmacist, Technologist, Nuclear Medicine, Technologist, Medical and Clinical Laboratory, Podiatrist
Job Outlook		Physicians and surgeons held about 661,400 jobs in 2008; approximately 12 percent were self-employed and not incorporated. About 53 percent of salaried physicians and surgeons were in office of physicians, and 19 percent were employed by private hospitals. Others practiced in the Federal Government, most in U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals and clinics or in the Public Health Service of the Department of Health and Human Services. A growing number of physicians are partners or salaried employees of group practices. Organized as clinics or as groups of physicians, medical groups can afford expensive medical equipment and realize other business advantages. Also, hospitals are integrating physician practices into healthcare networks that provide a continuum of care both inside and outside the hospital setting. The New England and Middle Atlantic States have the highest ratio of physicians to population; the South Central States have the lowest. D.O.s are more likely than M.D.s to practice in small cities and towns and in rural areas. M.D.s tend to locate in urban areas, close to hospital and educational centers. Opportunities for individuals interested in becoming physicians and surgeons are expected to be very good. In addition to job openings from employment growth, numerous openings will result from the need to replace physicians and surgeons who retire over the 2008-18 decade. Unlike their predecessors, newly trained physicians face radically different choices of where and how to practice. New physicians are much less likely to enter solo practice and more likely to take salaried jobs in group medical practices, clinics, and health networks.
More Information		American Osteopathic Association, American Medical Association, American Society of Anesthesiologists
References		American Medical Association, Health Care Careers Directory 2009-2010 http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/40/physician.pdf Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition, Physicians and Surgeons,on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos074.htm O*NET OnLine, on the Internet at http://online.onetcenter.org/link/summary/29-1061.00