Top 10 Reasons To Become An Anesthesiologists

10. You can intubate your friends at parties.

9. Have you ever met a happy internist?

8. You don't have enough ego hypertrophy to be a surgeon.

7. You can comfort anxious patients with, "I know just how you feel. It's my first anesthetic, too."

6. Any job where you can drive to work in green pajamas is a cool job.

5. You can park next to rich doctors like ophthalmologists.

4. You can cover your mistakes with Versed.

3. After spending the night with surgeons, they still won't respect you in the morning.

2. If you get bored on the weekends, you can give yourself a spinal.

1. No office, no overhead, no rectal exams!!!

Classification For Reading Medical Articles

Medical Student: reads entire article but does not understand what any of it means.
Intern: uses journal as a pillow during nights on call.
Resident: would like to read article but eats dinner instead.
Chief Resident: skips article entirely and reads the classifieds.
Junior Attending: reads and analyzes entire article in order to pimp medical students.
Senior Attending: reads abstracts and quotes the literature liberally.
Research Attending: reads entire article, reanalyzes statistics and looks up all references, usually in lieu of sex.
Chief of Service reads references to see if he/she was cited anywhere.

Letter #3 To Grey's Anatomy Producer From The ASA

February 8, 2010
Shonda Rhimes
Executive Producer, Grey’s Anatomy
Grey’s Anatomy Production Office
4151 Prospect Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90027

Dear Ms. Rhimes,

I watched the February 4, 2010 episode of Grey’s Anatomy with disappointment as the awareness storyline needlessly frightened the American public and misrepresented the contributions and professionalism that anesthesiologists demonstrate in the field every day, functioning as highly trained medical specialists.
As I mentioned in my previous letter, anesthesia awareness is a very serious and rare event that can occur while a patient is under general anesthesia. Members of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) want to make sure you and the public understand that our top priority is patient safety, achieved through vigilance and professionalism. The official seal of the Society displays the word “vigilance” prominently. Our commitment to eradicate patient injury, including unintended intraoperative awareness, is resolute.
Please Take Our Offer to Help
We are delighted that Grey’s Anatomy is showcasing an anesthesiologist. However, we want to ensure that future storylines are medically accurate as they relate to anesthesiology. While I understand that the characters and storylines presented in Grey’s Anatomy are fictional, many viewers take the medical situations portrayed in the show as true or “real” representations of medical treatment. We receive numerous inquiries from patients when a show like this week’s Grey’s Anatomy air, and we want to be able to provide the public the accurate medical facts without correcting falsehoods on their favorite television show. As the President of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, I believe you have a tremendous opportunity to educate your viewers on medical topics while delivering high quality entertainment. The two are not mutually exclusive and we are eager to strengthen and improve the delivery of information on anesthesiology through Jason George’s new character.
I urge you to recognize that episodes like the one on anesthesia awareness have the potential to alarm and inappropriately induce patients to avoid needed, and sometimes life-saving, surgical procedures. ASA members are available to consult with you on future anesthesia storylines.
Anesthesia Resource
More information from the ASA on anesthesia topics can be found on www.lifelinetomodernmedicine.com.
I would be happy to speak with you directly about anesthesia awareness or any medical questions related to anesthesia that you may have. I can be reached directly at 617-243-6031.

Sincerely,
Alexander Hannenberg, M.D.
President American Society of Anesthesiologists

Letter #2 To Grey's Anatomy Producer From The ASA

December 11, 2009
Shonda Rhimes
Executive Producer, Grey’s Anatomy
Grey’s Anatomy Production Office
4151 Prospect Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90027

Dear Ms. Rhimes,

It has been brought to my attention that an upcoming episode of Grey’s Anatomy will include a storyline on the occurrence of anesthesia awareness, a very serious and rare event that can occur while a patient is under general anesthesia.
As President of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, and as a practicing physician anesthesiologist for 25 years, I am well aware of the rare occurrence of anesthesia awareness and the considerable effect it can have on patients. I wanted to write you to address this issue and implore that careful attention is paid to this topic as addressed in the upcoming episode.
While I understand that the characters and story lines presented in Grey’s Anatomy are fictional, many viewers take the medical situations portrayed in the show as true or “real” representations of medical treatment. For this reason, I believe it is important that occurrences of medical events like anesthesia awareness, however dramatic the story line may be, are presented in a factual light.
As you may know anesthesia awareness occurs when surgical patients can recall their surroundings or an event - and occasionally even pain related to their surgery. Awareness is a complication of only general anesthesia. Incidents of awareness are actually quite uncommon as 99.9 percent of patients under general anesthesia are completely unaware throughout their surgical experience. Anesthesiologists are the physician experts who monitor and treat patients under sedation and anesthesia before, during and after surgery.
While awareness is a rare event, its occurrence can be significant for many patients, even leading to the occurrence of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Anesthesiologists and the ASA recognize that awareness can be deeply troubling, though it is not always so.
I urge you to recognize that dramatizing awareness has the potential to alarm and inappropriately induce patients to avoid needed, and sometimes life-saving, surgical procedures. I urge you to consult with anesthesiologists and urge you to present the occurrence in the most medically factual context possible. More information from the ASA on anesthesia awareness can be found on www.lifelinetomodernmedicine.com. I am enclosing a draft copy of a newly updated patient brochure on the subject that may be of interest.
I would be happy to speak with you directly about anesthesia awareness or any medical questions related to anesthesia that you may have. I can be reached directly at 617-243-6031.

Sincerely,
Alexander Hannenberg, M.D.
President
The American Society of Anesthesiologists