December 23, 2003
A: FROM MENTOR SUZAN SONG IN IL
How interesting that you're thinking specifically about anesthesia! I'm curious
as to why you're thinking about it. For others that may not know,
anesthesiologists are the physicians who manage your anesthesia (pain
medication) during surgery (they're the ones who make sure you don't feel
anything while you're under the knife).

Basically, to be an anesthesiologist, you have to go to medical school. So you
do 4 years of college studying whatever, then apply for medical school. Med
school is 4 years. And then you apply for a residency in anesthesiology. That
residency is about 4 years. Then you can do a fellowship if you want, which is
another year. And then you can work for a hospital in the OR (operating room),
or you can be a private practice anesthesiologist or you could also do a
fellowship in critical care and work in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in the
hospital.

If you definitely like anesthesia and not the rest of medicine/medical school,
there are Nurse Anesthestheits (spelling?) who do similar work under the
supervision of anesthesiologists. They do much less schooling (maybe 3 or 4
years instead of 9)

There are many pros and cons about this field though, definitely feel free to
email me if you have more questions. Great to hear that you're being
inquisitive about different fields! Take care.
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A: FROM MENTOR KHANH VU IN TX
To practice as an anesthesiologist, you must complete an anesthesiology residency. This usually means that you will need 4 years of college during which time you will need to complete all the required courses for application to medical school and take the MCAT (standardized test for medical school); then medical school is another 4 years. During your 4th year of medical school, you will then apply to a residency program (this your formal training) for your specialty (in your case- anesthesilogy). Anesthesiology is a 4 year residency; your first year is your "Preliminary" year then the next 3 years you will spend in anesthesiology. So, if everything goes as planned, it will probably take you 12 years (4 yrs college, 4 yrs med school, 4 yrs residency) to become an anesthesiologist. Don't worry- time goes by much quicker as you get older!