High School
High school students can prepare for a medical career by concentrating on
advanced science classes such as biology and chemistry. Volunteer or work at a
hospital to receive firsthand experience working around healthcare professionals
and patients.
Undergraduate Studies
College students interested in a medical career should complete liberal arts
requirements but plan a pre-med course of study. Nearly all accredited colleges
offer standard pre-med curricula, which include calculus, general chemistry,
organic chemistry, biology and physics. Academic majors are unrelated to
admission to medical school. Students must successfully complete a four year
undergraduate college program before entering medical school.
An easy way to determine if you have an interest in medicine
and anesthesiology is to read more about it. Most colleges and universities have
subscriptions to popular anesthesia journals and texts in their collection. One
key book to read is Miller's Anesthesia. The Wood Library-Museum of
Anesthesiology www.woodlibrarymuseum.org, located at the
ASA Headquarters in Park Ridge, Illinois, is an extensive source for anesthesia
knowledge.
Medical School
After completing a four year bachelor's degree, students then take four years of
graduate education leading to a degree in medicine (M.D.) or
osteopathy (D.O.).
After receiving a medical degree, students must complete four more years in an
anesthesiology residency. Some residents take one more year of study or
fellowship, in a specific area of anesthesiology such as critical care medicine,
pain medicine, research or education.
There is one important decision you must make before
deciding to become an anesthesiologist: Do you want to become a physician?
Medical school is designed to give students the widest range of choices,
rotating them through all the different areas of medicine. Some medical students
find that they are drawn to anesthesiology because of its intense doctor patient
relationships combined with cutting edge technology in a fast paced environment.
Anesthesiologists' training overlaps into internal medicine, critical care,
obstetrics and pain medicine, while dealing with emergency cases, organ
transplants and all types of surgeries.
There is a wealth of information available from the
Association of American Medical Colleges
www.aamc.org, including a complete listing of medical schools. Students
considering enrollment in a medical school are often required to take the
Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), as part of their admission process.
Upon completion of medical school, United States students
participate in the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP), also called "the
Match." This is when students who want a particular school are matched with
residency programs looking for a particular type of student. ASA has information
about previous NRMP results for review. A list of all United States
anesthesiology residency programs is available at
www.aapd-saac.org under members.
The ASA Medical Student Membership offers a glimpse of the
profession, even before deciding on an anesthesiology specialty. Contact the ASA
Membership Department or visit the Medical Student Delegation
www.asahq.org/msd for more information.
Residency Program
After medical school, a physician choosing anesthesiology as his or her
specialty completes a year of internship and then three years of residency.
Physician training programs in the United States require four years of residency
training for board certification eligibility in anesthesiology (usually one year
of general medical, pediatric, or surgical training followed by three years of
clinical anesthesiology training under the tutelage of experienced
anesthesiologists, usually faculty at medical school hospitals.)
After residency, many anesthesiologists complete an
additional fellowship year of subspecialty training in areas such as pain
management, cardiac anesthesiology, pediatric anesthesiology,
neuro-anesthesiology, obstetric anesthesiology or critical care medicine.
Following successful completion of a residency program in
anesthesiology, residents are eligible to sit for the American Board of
Anesthesiology (ABA) examination. Almost 90 percent of anesthesiologists are
board certified, meaning they have passed the written and oral examinations. All
anesthesiologists must be licensed to practice medicine in their state.
Additional certification is available from the ABA in critical care and pain
management.
Additional information about the ASA Resident Component can
be found at www.asahq.org/asarc.
