Anesthesiologists
Health ScienceO*NET 29-1211.00United States
Administer anesthetics and analgesics for pain management prior to, during, or after surgery.
- Median annual earnings
- $385,868
- Projected change
- +5.9%
- Typical education
- Doctoral degree or more
- Employment
- 45.34K jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
93.9% of the workforce
Growing to 48.01K by 2035
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Build the skills
ASU learning related to this career
These courses and certificates are connected through catalog career relationships and Lightcast skill tags.
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The work
What anesthesiologists do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- Monitor patient before, during, and after anesthesia and counteract adverse reactions or complications.
- Provide and maintain life support and airway management and help prepare patients for emergency surgery.
- Record type and amount of anesthesia and patient condition throughout procedure.
- Administer anesthetic or sedation during medical procedures, using local, intravenous, spinal, or caudal methods.
- Examine patient, obtain medical history, and use diagnostic tests to determine risk during surgical, obstetrical, and other medical procedures.
- Position patient on operating table to maximize patient comfort and surgical accessibility.
- Decide when patients have recovered or stabilized enough to be sent to another room or ward or to be sent home following outpatient surgery.
- Coordinate administration of anesthetics with surgeons during operation.
- Confer with other medical professionals to determine type and method of anesthetic or sedation to render patient insensible to pain.
- Order laboratory tests, x-rays, and other diagnostic procedures.
- Inform students and staff of types and methods of anesthesia administration, signs of complications, and emergency methods to counteract reactions.
- Manage anesthesiological services, coordinating them with other medical activities and formulating plans and procedures.
- Provide medical care and consultation in many settings, prescribing medication and treatment and referring patients for surgery.
- Diagnose illnesses, using examinations, tests, and reports.
- Coordinate and direct work of nurses, medical technicians, and other health care providers.
- Instruct individuals and groups on ways to preserve health and prevent disease.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $98,519
- 25th percentile
- $202,677
- 50th percentile
- $385,868
- 75th percentile
- $490,242
- 90th percentile
- $572,505
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $385,868 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+5.9%average or slower
202545,341 jobs
2035 projected48,011 jobs
2,670 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- Doctoral degree or more
- 93.9%
- Master's or Professional degree
- 6.1%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Science
- Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Anesthesiologists13,799 postings
- 02Anesthesiology Physicians5,817 postings
- 03Locum Tenens Anesthesiologists2,136 postings
- 04Anesthesiology Pain Management Physicians1,087 postings
- 05Pediatric Anesthesiologists682 postings
- 06Cardiac Anesthesiologists543 postings
- 07General Anesthesiologists235 postings
- 08Pain Management Physicians178 postings
- 09Certified Anesthesiologist Assistants152 postings
- 10Anesthesiologist Assistants148 postings
- 11OB/GYNs130 postings
- 12Anesthesia Physicians118 postings
- 13Cardiology Physicians116 postings
- 14Chiefs of Anesthesiology104 postings
- 15OB/GYN Physicians101 postings
- 16Locums Tenens95 postings
- 17Locum Tenens Anesthesia Physicians79 postings
- 18Radiology Physicians73 postings
- 19Cardiothoracic Anesthesiologists67 postings
- 20Radiologists64 postings
Top employers
- 01CompHealth3,607 postings
- 02Weatherby Healthcare1,696 postings
- 03AMN Healthcare1,333 postings
- 04Hayman Daugherty Associates1,110 postings
- 05LocumTenens.com946 postings
- 06VISTA Staffing Solutions897 postings
- 07Envision Physician Services603 postings
- 08Vituity591 postings
- 09All Star HealthCare366 postings
- 10Jackson Physician Search364 postings
- 11Medicus Healthcare Solutions357 postings
- 12The Curare Group357 postings
- 13Aya Locums348 postings
- 14United States Department of Veterans Affairs254 postings
- 15National Staffing Solutions244 postings
- 16Global Medical Staffing238 postings
- 17Britt Medical Search230 postings
- 18Smart Physician Recruiting217 postings
- 19Pacific Companies206 postings
- 20Surgical Information Systems205 postings
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