As a medical student, do you ever wonder what it’s like to specialize in anesthesiology? Over the years, three anesthesiologists from around the country and working in a variety of practice settings have taken the time to be featured doctors in the AMA’s "Shadow Me” Specialty Series, which offers advice directly from AMA member physicians about life in their specialties. Check out their insights to help determine whether a career in anesthesiology might be a good fit for you.
Shadowing Rachel Clement, MD
- Dr. Clement is employed by a multispecialty medical group within Confluence Health, which recently received an award from the AMA for its work on improving physician satisfaction and reducing burnout. Confluence Health is a member of the AMA Health System Program, which provides enterprise solutions to equip leadership, physicians and care teams with resources to help drive the future of medicine.
- She is the daughter of two physicians, one of whom, her father, was an anesthesiologist and “the happiest physician I’ve seen,” she said. “Because of him, I also had a front-row seat to the more stressful aspects of the profession: call, challenging cases and unpredictable schedules. With that early exposure, I haven’t been shocked by these things in my own work. However, observing it is different from living it, and there have been some surprises.”
- In fact, Dr. Clement noted, one question all physicians in training should ask themselves before pursuing the specialty is: How do I handle uncertainty? “If you can handle the unexpected well, whether that is a surgical hemorrhage or emergent cases at 2 a.m. or your daily schedule being unpredictable, then that flexibility will make the job exciting and something you can do forever,” she said. “If you need more control, then you may find the surprises that you encounter as an anesthesiologist are exhausting and unsustainable.”
Shadowing Gerald R. Callas, MD
- Almost 20 years into practice when this profile was written, Dr. Callas said the specialty was more rewarding than he thought it would be when he was in medical school. “As an anesthesiologist, you have potential to have a work-life balance that is manageable. This specialty can allow shift work, part-time, full-time, or just about anything you are looking for,” he said.
- One of the most challenging aspects of the specialty is dealing with the unexpected. “A regular, easy operation can be made difficult just by the patient’s comorbidities,” Dr. Callas said. “As anesthesiologists we must be ready for everything.”
Shadowing Padma Gulur, MD
- Dr. Gulur also specializes in pain medicine and is employed by a hospital, where she works in both an inpatient pain service and an outpatient, clinic-based practice. She described training in anesthesiology as “simply phenomenal.”
- “The breadth of learning and the terrific balance of cerebral and hands-on skill sets prepare you to take care of patients with varying disease states and across all age groups,” Dr. Gulur said. “The year in the pain fellowship is probably one of the best years of training, as you gain skills and friends for a lifetime. Both training programs provide adequate work-life balance.”
- She also noted two skills—compassion and empathy—that every physician in training should have for anesthesiology and pain medicine, even though the board exam won’t test for them. “Chronic pain is a disease state that, for the most part, is not externally visible and yet can be extremely debilitating,” she said. “These patients depend more heavily than most on the therapeutic relationship with their providers to feel better.”
The AMA Specialty Guide simplifies medical students’ specialty selection process, highlights major specialties, details training information, and provides access to related association information. It is produced by FREIDA™, the AMA Residency & Fellowship Database®.
Learn more with the AMA about the medical specialty of anesthesiology.
