Anyone an Anesthesiologist? Is this profession for me if i want a family?

Question

i am in my 2nd year of college (19 years old) & had my heart on being an anesthesiologist... but looking furthur into it i'm not sure.

I want to start a family by the time i am in my late 20's. Are they on call like surgeons & doctors are?

Basically i am looking for a job that pays amazingly & i'll work for it, but i also want a family life (working in the hospital has always been a goal of mine)

I'm not into doing surgeries or anything, but i'd like to do something important & get paid well.

Any advice?!

Answer 1

My cousin married an anesthesiologist and it's important to know what are you are getting into. First off, medical school is long and hard. Most people say you do not want to be married before hand. So lets say you graduate college on the 4 yr plan, straight to med school. thats graduating at 25/26. Now you are an intern. You know thats crappy. You will be going to bed at 7 or 8 at night b/c you have to be at work at 3 or 4 am. That makes dating difficult. You are on call, never know what you'll be doing and as the lowest man/woman on the totem pole, you have the worst schedule. That means all holidays. Next you become a resident. Well, thats a slight step up but still rather crappy. After a few years of being a resident, you pull a bit of weight. You can set a bit of your own schedule. But yes you are on call a lot. Yeah you still work some crappy shifts--24 straight, all holidays. Remember you are needed for all surgeries. Now after a few years anesthesiologist do get to pull a lil better life than a regular doctor. You have assigned surgeries and generally don't have to be there at 3 am, but the hospital is all about seniority. So you'll still be the junior anesthesiologist. Anything with med school though you can't just do for the money. You have to love it. B/c you live it. It's so much a part of who you are.

But by that time it does allow you some of the freedom. However, thats out of school 26, intern and some years of resident--lets just say 5. so a total of 31. Thats not too far off your timeline. Unless you were thinking late 20s being closer to 26 than 29.

The problem is jobs that pay amazingly tend to require amazing amount of hours donated. Try to get through medical school first though. If you don't wash out, you'll have several options to go into. For example, dermotology or plastics both keep office hours. Highly competitive so you have to be top of your game in med school. Med school is expensive though so I'm try to make sure i had the drive to get through it before I started.

It is completely possible to be both a parent and a doctor. But none of those doctors say it's easy. And definitely not early on and if you throw in parenting early on. My cousin was a party animal and his marriage with the anesthesiologist didn't work out btw.

If you are just looking for great pay, consider being a dentist, a psychiatrist, a specialist (chiro, foot doc, eye doc)--those guys never have to keep more than office hours. In the hospital if you get your degree in nursing and go for an MBA instead of med school there is all kinds of opportunities in administration. Pay isn't close but you don't work after 5 and don't work w/es. Nursing is great b/c due to the extreme shortage of nurses you can call your own hours. Lets say after you have a child you only want to work Saturdays and Sundays when your husband is home, not a problem. Hospitals are going crazy to keep nurses no matter what they have to offer them.

Hope this answers your questions. Good luck.

Answer 2

believe me...you don`t want to be a dentist it is disgusting!