Any Anesthesiologists/ medical field people on here??

[Cassian]

Hello all! Im going to college next year, and im fairly sure I want to go into the medical field. I've always wanted to be a vet, but im not sure. I was looking into the different fields in medicine and anesthesiology sparked my interest. I want to be active and have an interesting career that keeps me thinking. But, I don't like being around a lot of sick people because I have a fear of catching some super virus. lol Are there any of you on here that would be willing to share your experience in the medical field and tell me if you think that would be a good fit for me? any info is much appreciated!!

 

[vet4him]

Speaking as a veterinarian, don't do it. Go to medical school instead. You could always go into research, that way you don't have to be around people (sick or otherwise in general) if you're concerned about getting sick.
My $0.02 worth.

 

[Cassian]

Speaking as a veterinarian, don't do it. Go to medical school instead. You could always go into research, that way you don't have to be around people (sick or otherwise in general) if you're concerned about getting sick.
My $0.02 worth.

Thanks for the advice! I appreciate it! just wondering, what is your reason for your recommendation? Work environment, salary, work hours, etc?

 

[Katrina71]

@tdlawdo any input here?

 

[tdlawdo]

I have gone to both schools. Vet school was first then medical school later. I have a rural practice and do everything from deliver babies to amputate appendages reattach appendages orthopedic and many other types of surgeries.

As for the vet stuff I still do stuff on my own animals and my amish patients animals. Money not even close, there are plenty of specialties that don’t interact with sick people. I am currently a senior medical director for a major national insurance company and do clinical research at a University for the NIH. Feel free to DM me and we can talk more. I bring students here all the time to shadow me on house (farm) calls for a weekend. Name is Tim btw.

 

[hart24601]

I have gone to both schools. Vet school was first then medical school later. I have a rural practice and do everything from deliver babies to amputate appendages reattach appendages orthopedic and many other types of surgeries.

As for the vet stuff I still do stuff on my own animals and my amish patients animals. Money not even close, there are plenty of specialties that don’t interact with sick people. I am currently a senior medical director for a major national insurance company and do clinical research at a University for the NIH. Feel free to DM me and we can talk more. I bring students here all the time to shadow me on house (farm) calls for a weekend. Name is Tim btw.

Wow.... I feel inadequate now.

 

[Bleigh]

I have gone to both schools. Vet school was first then medical school later. I have a rural practice and do everything from deliver babies to amputate appendages reattach appendages orthopedic and many other types of surgeries.

As for the vet stuff I still do stuff on my own animals and my amish patients animals. Money not even close, there are plenty of specialties that don’t interact with sick people. I am currently a senior medical director for a major national insurance company and do clinical research at a University for the NIH. Feel free to DM me and we can talk more. I bring students here all the time to shadow me on house (farm) calls for a weekend. Name is Tim btw.

I was going to tag you too! @Katrina71 won this battle!

 

[Cassian]

I have gone to both schools. Vet school was first then medical school later. I have a rural practice and do everything from deliver babies to amputate appendages reattach appendages orthopedic and many other types of surgeries.

As for the vet stuff I still do stuff on my own animals and my amish patients animals. Money not even close, there are plenty of specialties that don’t interact with sick people. I am currently a senior medical director for a major national insurance company and do clinical research at a University for the NIH. Feel free to DM me and we can talk more. I bring students here all the time to shadow me on house (farm) calls for a weekend. Name is Tim btw.

Thanks man! ive got a big test to study for tomorrow, but I will 100% message you this weekend. I appreciate it!

 

[Wtyson254]

I’m an Anesthesiologist, would be happy to discuss it with you.

 

[Shazbop07]

Im an RN (nurse specialist). I work closely with 3 renal physicians in paediatric Nephrology. My experience is there are many specialties that have what we consider 'clean' patients. Renal being one of them. Sure our patients being immunesuppressed get illnesses but generally you know about it and can use protective gear to see them. Paeds too generally has less "super bugs" about

 

[jsvand5]

If you want to do something for the love of it be a vet. If you want to make a great living go for Anesthesiologist. Also, if you don’t want to go to school forever check out nurse anesthetist. Still a lot of work but they get paid well and it will shave some years off of college.

 

[saltyhog]

Family Practice doc since 1983. Still love my job even though the government and the insurance companies are trying to turn us in to data collection specialists! FP is the next to lowest paying specialty but the rewards of taking care of families for almost their entire life is worth so much. As far as exposure to infections, you're probably as much or more in danger with reefing, hunting, diving or several other hobbies I do. LOL.

Anesthesia is great but very competitive specialty to go in to. Radiology is another that fits your description. Ophthalmology is still another. You probably won't really know what you want to do till you get exposed to it during school. I thought I wanted to do General Surgery but fell in love with primary care while in med school.

Tagging another old doc. @rkpetersen

 

[jsvand5]

Agreed with the above. Anesthesia is definitely one of the harder specialties to get into. Even getting accepted into a nurse anesthetist program is very difficult.

I work Nuclear medicine and work with a lot of radiologist. If you are worried about being exposed to illnesses the nice part is that they have very little actual contact with patients. The part that sucks is you are staring at a computer screen reading tests all day and most have to take call. I’ve asked some of them how they handle reading tests one after the other all day and most seem to really hate the job. Just last week one told me he read over a 150 tests during his shift (CTs, xrays, ultrasounds, MRIs and Nuclear Med). Said he had to have someone else finish the day for him because he couldn’t focus on what he was doing anymore.

 

[Billdogg]

I'm a Radiologic Technologist (X-Ray Tech). I graduated in 1988 and spent 10 years working nights in a very busy Level I Trauma Center. I made it about 10 years before burn out made me look for other opportunities. I just got tired of drunks taking swings at me because they screwed up. For nearly 20 years now, I've worked at a RT(R) in the Electrophysiology Lab of the same Hospital. We implant pacemakers and defibrillators, as well as take care of arrhythmias such as Atrial Fibrillation. Most of out patients are "clean" if you will, but have very sick hearts. It is a very technical field that I find to be quite rewarding. I make a decent living but am far from "rich".

One of the big pluses for me was that I was able to start with just a 2 year (associates) degree and right out of the gate was making more than a living wage. If you want "M.D." at the end of your name you will certainly make a great deal more than I do, but you will also have 4 years of undergrad, 4 years of med school, 3-4 years of residency, and then, when you finally get out, at probably a couple hundred grand in student loans. I graduated owing exactly zero to anyone, and other than an occasional late night or weekend of call, when I clock out I'm on ME time. Most physicians don't have it that easy.

jm.02

 

[Cassian]

Thank you all for your help, suggestions, and experiences!!! This had helped me a lot!! Im going to look into Anesthesiology and Radiology more, as both of those spark my interest. But then again, there are so many specialties that I probably dont know about. I agree that I will figure out what to specialize in when I an learning more about it. Thanks again to everyone that has taken the time to reply!

 

[rkpetersen]

Retired radiologist here. I can definitely recommend it. Very interesting work that remains intellectually challenging. Cutting edge medical technology. Patient contact is somewhat limited but enjoyable and not overwhelming as with some specialties. Very reasonable work hours with actual time for a personal life, and remuneration is generally excellent and can be spectacular.

In med school, I was certain I wanted to be a surgeon, and put all my effort into doing as many surgical rotations and subinternships as possible to help me decide on which surgical specialty to go into. Only did a Radiology rotation toward the end of my fourth year. I found it fascinating but my future plans were already set, or so I thought. Fast forward 3 years, and I found myself completely burned out and discouraged after the first part of surgery residency at one of the most arduous programs in the country. Changed to radiology and from residency forward, it's just been so much better in every way. Had a great private practice career for 25 years, but all good things come to an end, and about 5 years after we sold our practice to a multi-state imaging corporation, many things had changed and I'd had enough. Retired comfortably at 58.

 

[Cassian]

Retired radiologist here. I can definitely recommend it. Very interesting work that remains intellectually challenging. Cutting edge medical technology. Patient contact is somewhat limited but enjoyable and not overwhelming as with some specialties. Very reasonable work hours with actual time for a personal life, and remuneration is generally excellent and can be spectacular.

In med school, I was certain I wanted to be a surgeon, and put all my effort into doing as many surgical rotations and subinternships as possible to help me decide on which surgical specialty to go into. Only did a Radiology rotation toward the end of my fourth year. I found it fascinating but my future plans were already set, or so I thought. Fast forward 3 years, and I found myself completely burned out and discouraged after the first part of surgery residency at one of the most arduous programs in the country. Changed to radiology and from residency forward, it's just been so much better in every way. Had a great private practice career for 25 years, but all good things come to an end, and about 5 years after we sold our practice to a multi-state imaging corporation, many things had changed and I'd had enough. Retired comfortably at 58.

thanks very much! I appreciate the info!

 

[csb123]

As an Emergency Medicine physician, I can say that medicine is an intense but very fulfilling profession. Your germaphobia will vanish quickly during med school

 

[Cassian]

As an Emergency Medicine physician, I can say that medicine is an intense but very fulfilling profession. Your germaphobia will vanish quickly during med school

lol, I don't know about that thanks for sharing your experience!

 

[csb123]

The first challenge is getting into med school. During med school you will do rotations in every specialty field, you can’t pick and choose which ones. During every rotation you will have patients with infectious diseases. So unless you suffer from OCD level ickyness, you will be desensitized. Good luck!