Anesthesiologist Job Description: Duties, Education, Training and Certification Requirements, Job Outlook and Salary
Submitted by: Gypsy Santiago
Job Overview: Anesthesiologists are doctors specializing on pain relief of surgical patients. They are responsible for administering anesthetics and closely monitoring the vital signs of patients during a surgical procedure. He/she must also adjust anesthetics accordingly throughout the surgery and administer medications during recovery. Many anesthesiologists specialize in certain types of health problems, such as neurological or respiratory illness.
Education, Training and Knowledge Requirements: A four-year undergraduate degree and four-year medical school course should be completed, followed by an additional 4-year anesthesiology course, which includes months of internship and a residency program. He/she must have a strong background in biology, chemistry, mathematics and physics and a vast knowledge in internal medicine, surgery, pharmacology and critical care medicine. An anesthesiologist must also obtain a license before handling patients. To specialize neurosurgical anesthesiology or any other particular fields, additional training must be completed.
Skills & Abilities: An anesthesiologist must be knowledgeable in the techniques used in treating patients in dentistry and medicine; and must be highly skilled in mathematics, chemistry, and biology and their applications. He/she must also possess skills such as solid decision-making and judgment, critical thinking, superb verbal and written communication skills, active listening and organizational skills. They must also be knowledgeable in controlling operations of medical equipments, and must have a high level of problem sensitivity to determine when something is likely to go wrong during a surgery and to provide quick action.
Duties:
The nature of work involves administering sedation or anesthetic during medical procedures, discussing with other medical professions to determine local, caudal, spinal or intravenous methods should be used; coordinating administration of anesthetics with surgeons during and after the operation, deciding when patients can be sent home following a surgery; examining patients’ medical history to determine surgical risks; monitoring patients before, during and after giving anesthesia; conducting medical research and conducting tests for new techniques and medications to help in curing disease; providing life support and preparing patients for emergency surgeries; diagnosing illnesses, working with medical technicians, nurses and other health care providers; managing anesthesiological services, ordering lab tests and other diagnostic exams; providing consultation and prescribing medication; and maintaining sterilized equipments, among others.
Earnings & Job Outlook: The demand of anesthesiologists is expected to grow faster than average through 2014. The employment outlook in this field is deemed to be very good. They are one of the highest paid professionals among all physicians with a reported median annual income of $321,686 in 2004.
Gypsy Santiago is a professional resume writer and career search strategy/career branding coach with years of experience in assisting job seekers prepare for the job market. She helps create career-targeted resumes, provides useful tips about career transition, offers future career ideas and guide jobseekers about effective job search techniques.
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Word Count: 431 Date: Tue, 3 Aug 2010 Time: 2:14 PM
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