Match anesthesia to patient and procedure
Ask patients about drugs and past anesthesia trouble, examine them, and review test results before choosing a plan.
Career profile
Anesthesiologist
Anesthesiologists are doctors who plan anesthesia and manage a patient's medical condition throughout a procedure.
If you wonder how drugs act on the body, this job lets you watch those effects unfold and decide what to do as things change.
A day in the life
Give the anesthetic drugs
Give the anesthetic drugs, and if the procedure needs it, manage the airway to support breathing.
Respond to a blood pressure change
When the monitor shows blood pressure shifting, figure out why and adjust care while keeping the surgeon informed.
Keep the anesthesia chart
Log each drug, its dose, and the patient's condition on the anesthesia chart from start to finish.
Decide when the patient can leave
With the recovery nurses, check breathing, blood flow and alertness before deciding on a hospital room or home.
Quick facts
Medical degree + residency
United States
$391,490 median
United States · May 2025
3.6% projected growth
United States · 2025–2035
Quick orientation
Preparation, pay & outlook
Preparation
Medical degree + residencyThe usual path runs through college, medical school, and four years of anesthesiology residency.
Pay
$391,490 medianNational annual median for anesthesiologists; the hourly equivalent is $188.22.
Outlook
3.6% projected growthAbout 1,100 openings a year nationally, including replacement openings.
Fit, tradeoffs & changing tools
You might like this if…
- You enjoy using biology and chemistry to explain a change you can observe.
- You can stay attentive through repeated checks.
- You like explaining decisions clearly when other people need a quick answer.
Things to weigh
- You make consequential decisions under time pressure; mistakes can seriously harm a patient.
- Some jobs include long shifts, overnight work, and on-call duties that interrupt personal plans.
Where AI may help
Emerging software looks for patterns in patient measurements that may warn of complications. Researchers are also developing systems that automatically adjust drug delivery using monitor readings.
What people still lead
You still connect the readings to the patient's health, choose a treatment plan, and explain decisions to patients and colleagues.
What we can’t predict yet
How much routine adjustment can safely become automatic across different patients and procedures remains unsettled. The balance between operating equipment and overseeing it may change.
Pay in context
Earnings
Use the national figures as a reference, then compare an offer's hours, overnight call, and compensation terms.
The national midpoint
Anesthesiologists had median wages of $391,490 a year in May 2025, equivalent to $188.22 an hour. This is an occupation-wide figure, not a starting-salary promise.
The national spread
The 10th-percentile annual wage was $101,460 and the 90th-percentile wage was $557,130. These mark positions in the wage distribution, not beginner and experienced pay grades.
Openings over the next decade
Employment is projected to grow 3.6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,100 openings annually from growth and replacement needs. Opportunities in a particular city can differ.
Getting started
First, earn a medical degree
Medical school usually takes four years after undergraduate preparation.
- What the route involves
- Complete medical-school prerequisites, apply, and earn a Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) degree through science courses and supervised patient care.
- What it can lead to
- You can pursue specialty residency training. Medical school introduces you to several specialties before you commit to anesthesiology.
Then, train in anesthesiology residency
The standard sequence includes one year of broad clinical training and three years of anesthesia training.
- What the route involves
- After medical school and selection into a residency, care for patients with faculty supervision and progressively greater responsibility.
- What it can lead to
- Satisfactory training prepares you for specialist practice. In the American Board of Anesthesiology pathway, completing residency and passing BASIC makes you eligible for ADVANCED; APPLIED follows ADVANCED.
The usual route has two required phases below. Plan for roughly four years of college, four years of medical school, and four years of residency.
After entry
Career paths
This starts where the entry routes leave off: early work, growing capability, and advancement or specialization. This path also has a credential or licensing boundary; see the requirements and limits.
Get established
In your first role after residency, build dependable routines with surgeons and nurses for planning cases and communicating changes.
Strengthen your judgment
Review difficult cases and use continuing education to address gaps in your knowledge and improve your next decision.
Focus your practice
Pursue fellowship training and the relevant certification requirements to specialize in areas such as pediatric anesthesiology, pain medicine, or critical care medicine.
Where you can work
Teaching hospitals
A broad surgical case mix can include obstetrics and complex specialty care. Working with residents adds teaching and discussion of clinical decisions to patient care.
- Indoors
- Safety-sensitive
Outpatient surgery centers
You plan anesthesia and pain relief around a procedure followed by same-day discharge. Recovery readiness shapes the work, including choices about numbing techniques and pain medicines.
- Indoors
- Safety-sensitive
Try it
See whether the job clicks before you commit to the path.
Read the American Society of Anesthesiologists' public explanation of the anesthesiologist's role. Sketch one patient's journey through a procedure and mark where the physician must make a decision. Notice whether the medical reasoning or the hands-on work interests you more.
Stay safe: Keep this a reading exercise; do not try medicines or airway techniques.
Sources
- O*NET OnLine. 29-1211.00 — Anesthesiologists. Accessed 2026-10-09.
- American Society of Anesthesiologists. Role of the Anesthesiologist. Accessed 2026-10-09.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics — national estimates, SOC 29-1211. Accessed 2026-09-29.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employment Projections Table 1.2, 2025–2035 — Anesthesiologists. Accessed 2026-09-29.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Outlook Handbook — Physicians and Surgeons. Accessed 2026-10-09.
- American Board of Anesthesiology. Policy Book, February 2026. Accessed 2026-10-09.
- American Board of Anesthesiology. Begin Certification. Accessed 2026-10-09.
- Duke Department of Anesthesiology. Duke Anesthesiology Residency Program. Accessed 2026-10-09.
- Duke Department of Anesthesiology. Ambulatory Anesthesiology Division. Accessed 2026-10-09.
- American Board of Anesthesiology. Subspecialty Certification. Accessed 2026-10-09.
- Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation. The Future of Anesthesia: Embracing Innovation for Safer, Personalized Perioperative Care. Accessed 2026-10-09.