Anesthesiologist Assistant
The Anesthesiologist Assistant is employed as a specialty physician assistant in hospitals and medical centers under the supervision and direction of a duly licensed anesthesiologist. He or she aids the anesthesiologist in developing and applying the anesthesia care plan of a patient.
Duties of the Anesthesiologist Assistant include the collection of preoperative data (e.g. appropriate health history of patient), carrying out various preoperative tasks such as the necessary insertion of intravenous, arterial and special catheters (when needed) for central venous pressure monitoring, applying airway management and administering drugs for induction and maintenance of anesthesia, adjusting anesthetic levels on a minute-to-minute basis and offering recovery room care as well as working in the intensive care unit. In addition to that, Anesthesiologist Assistants are tasked to pretest anesthesia delivery systems and operate special support devices for vital cardiac, pulmonary and neurological systems.
In order to become an Anesthesiologist Assistant, one must obtain an undergraduate premedical background—premedical courses in biology, physics, chemistry or mathematics—and a baccalaureate degree. Baccalaureate majors are usually chemistry, biology, computer science, physics, mathematics, or one of the allied health careers such as nursing, medical technology or respiratory therapy. Post-baccalaureate programs offered are from twenty-four to twenty-eight months in duration.
As of the year 2006, the starting salary for fresh graduates is within a range of $95,000 to $120,000 for a forty-hour work week. There are also added benefits and on-call activities are to be considered. For experienced anesthesiologist assistants, the salary can range from $160,000 to $180,000, which includes the overtime.
