Why has the anesthesiology job market avoided saturation unlike the surgical specialties?

[kitchenlover]

What is it about the nature of these jobs that lead to varying job markets? Doesn't anesthesiology require OR time (the main constricting factor) just like surgery?

[hero147]

Anesthesia is a lot broader than surgery. A general surgeon can only do gen surg cases and thus a hospital may only require 3-4 of them. An anesthesiologist can do almost all the surgical cases and you need an anesthesiologist for almost all surgeries hence the demand is higher. 

Plus, I find a lot of anesthesiologist burn out and retire earlier than their surgical counterparts especially over the last couple of years due to the nature of in house and busier call. 

 

[robclem21]

1 hour ago, kitchenlover said:

What is it about the nature of these jobs that lead to varying job markets? Doesn't anesthesiology require OR time (the main constricting factor) just like surgery?

Every specialty has fluctuations in the job market, including surgeons. Typically sparked as a wave of physicians approaches retirement. Just so happens right now that is in anesthesia but its not unique to the field.

[rmorelan]

Other than big fields like family medicine and some parts of internal medicine a lot of specialties are really relatively small. It doesn't take much to tip things either way in the job market. It gets worse the more subspecialize you are, although on the flip side when a job is available and you match that description you are automatically a top candidate for the job. 

Anesthesia does have a broader range of things they can do other than most surgeons I think. They also have the ability to work is different ranges of time than a surgeon (very few part time surgeons particular starting off - you can work in multiple locations for different ranges of time in anesthesia). Gives them some advantages in that regard.

The underlying randomness makes timing the job market extremely hard. It also makes getting an academic post challenging as well (its even more restricted). Unfortunately luck plays a role once again in the process, so you have to go into things with your eyes open to some initial challenges you may face if you pick different fields.