I’m not saying they don’t deserve it, obviously I know they have our lives between their hands. To my knowledge, they base their calculations around our weights and heights. What else makes it so difficult?
In: Biology
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Okay, so to put this simply anaesthesiologists poison you until you’re almost dead. A little too much… and you die. Too little and you wake up screaming and thrashing around, and the doctor operating on you cuts the wrong thing… and you die. If after the operation they don’t figure out how fast you will regain consciousness then you wake up in pain, thrash around, pull stitches, and … you might die.
Surgical teams work as a team, so singling out one person in the room as the most important person is tricky, but if I had to do it I would say that the anaesthesiologist is often the most important person in the room. If they do their job wrong then … you die.
And there are a ton of variables. How much fat is the person carrying? Because fat affects a lot of things. How fast or slow is the person’s metabolism? The anaesthesiologist often has no way to know these things beforehand, and they’re making small adjustments throughout the operation, making sure to keep you on that tightrope at exactly the right point to keep you asleep, but not so much that you die.
It’s a difficult job that involves a lot of unknowns that can only be determined through monitoring the patient carefully throughout the operation. And one mistake and … you die.
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I was an anesthetic nurse before I got my current job. My boss always said that in 99% of the time a trained monkey could do my job but what counts is the 1% when things go sideways.
For the simple fact that they are highly trained and skilled specialists. They don’t just give you a shot to make you fall asleep and call it a day, they monitor you throughout an entire operation and deal with any life threatening issues that may arise during the procedure. They are also responsible for waking you up in a way that does not exacerbate your condition or imperil the procedure just completed.
They get sued the most and have the most liability. I have a friend that is an anesthesiologist. Lots of education loans to pay off as well.
It’s not just about dosing drugs based on weight and height. Anesthesiologists need to understand complex pharmacology, physiology, and even psychology. They are constantly monitoring and adjusting during surgery, dealing with potential emergencies, and managing post-op pain. A single mistake can be fatal, so that level of expertise and responsibility demands a high salary. Plus, they go through years of intense schooling and training.
A surgeon focuses on his/her surgery and very little else (usually). An anesthesiologist keeps the patient alive (protects you from the surgeon) and takes care of everything else during the surgery.
For instance, in an appendectomy, the surgeon focuses on taking out the appendix. The anesthesiologist takes care of the heart failure/COPD/kidney failure and all other medical problems the patient has.
In another example: a patient is having a life threatening bleed from a blood vessel (may be from a stab wound, may be because the surgeon cut a blood vessel by accident). The surgeon looks for the blood vessel to stop bleeding. The anesthesiologist keeps the patient alive with blood transfusions and blood pressure medication to keep the blood pressure at a safe level (otherwise you get brain or heart damage that would kill you), among other things (like keeping up with calcium, platelet, fresh frozen plasma, and correcting high potassium levels). If you get yourself screwed up, a good surgeon and a good anesthesiologist will save your life.
Healthy people are quite easy to keep alive. But they’re not the ones getting surgery, at least not at a major tertiary care hospital. Senior citizens who can’t walk to the bathroom and people with medical problem lists longer than my forearm are the ones that we get paid the big bucks for.
Our joke is that anyone can put you under, it’s bringing you back that guarantees the big bucks.
It’s not just about weight and height. Anesthesiologists have to perfectly dose powerful drugs, monitor vital signs, and react immediately to any complications. They also handle patients with varying health conditions, allergies, and responses to medications. It’s serious business if something goes wrong. Think of it like playing a high-stakes game of Operation, but if you mess up, it’s not a buzzing noise, it’s someone’s life.
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