Occupation · SOC 29-1211
Anesthesiologists
Administer anesthetics and analgesics for pain management prior to, during, or after surgery.
Median wage
$239,200
$124,450–$239,200
Projected growth
—
—
Annual openings
—
per year
Employed (US)
41,890
Job Zone 5
Typical preparation
Extensive preparation
Stackable credential programs
55 mapped
Core skills
Critical ThinkingActive ListeningMonitoringJudgment and Decision MakingReading ComprehensionComplex Problem SolvingWritingScience
Knowledge areas
Medicine and DentistryBiologyEnglish LanguageChemistryCustomer and Personal Service
Technology & tools
Medical softwareCalendar and scheduling softwareBilling and invoicing softwareData base user interface and query softwareSpreadsheet software
Representative tasks
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.Coordinate administration of anesthetics with surgeons during operation.Decide when patients have recovered or stabilized enough to be sent to another room or ward or to be sent home following outpatient surgery.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.Provide medical care and consultation in many settings, prescribing medication and treatment and referring patients for surgery.Manage anesthesiological services, coordinating them with other medical activities and formulating plans and procedures.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.Schedule and maintain use of surgical suite, including operating, wash-up, waiting rooms, or anesthetic and sterilizing equipment.Conduct medical research to aid in controlling and curing disease, to investigate new medications, and to develop and test new medical techniques.
Competency framework
Skill expectations by proficiency level.
emerging
Patient medical history and diagnostic test results — review and summarize under attending supervision to identify baseline anesthetic risk factors in a hospital preoperative setting.Anesthesia type and dosage records — document accurately using electronic medical software during supervised procedures in a surgical suite.Local and intravenous anesthetic agents — administer under direct attending supervision following established protocols in a controlled operating room environment.Patient vital signs and physiological parameters — monitor continuously during anesthesia induction while working alongside senior anesthesiologists in a teaching hospital.Airway management equipment and basic life support techniques — apply under close supervision when preparing patients for scheduled surgical procedures.Patient positioning protocols — execute on the operating table according to established guidelines and under surgeon direction to maximize comfort and procedural access.Adverse reactions and common anesthetic complications — recognize early warning signs and report immediately to supervising staff during intraoperative monitoring.Anesthesia coordination requirements — communicate clearly with surgical team members under guidance to support safe intraoperative workflow.Post-anesthetic recovery criteria — apply standard discharge readiness checklists under supervision to assess patient stabilization following outpatient procedures.Pharmacological and biological principles of anesthetic agents — apply foundational knowledge from medical training when selecting initial drug options under attending direction.
developing
Patient anesthetic risk profile — assess independently by integrating medical history, laboratory results, and diagnostic imaging before elective surgical procedures in a community hospital.Intravenous, spinal, and caudal anesthetic techniques — administer routinely with reduced oversight, adapting dosage to patient weight and comorbidities in a standard operating room.Intraoperative patient condition — monitor and adjust anesthetic delivery autonomously during routine procedures, escalating to senior staff for non-standard complications.Anesthesia administration records — maintain complete and accurate documentation in medical record software throughout procedures, ensuring regulatory compliance.Emergency airway management protocols — execute including intubation and ventilatory support with growing confidence during urgent surgical cases in an acute care setting.Anesthesia plan coordination — collaborate with surgical and nursing teams to sequence induction, maintenance, and emergence phases efficiently during scheduled operations.Post-procedure recovery assessment — evaluate patient neurological, respiratory, and cardiovascular status to make evidence-based discharge decisions following outpatient surgery.Obstetrical anesthesia requirements — manage epidural and spinal techniques for laboring patients with moderate complexity under periodic attending consultation.Intraoperative adverse events — respond to familiar complications such as hypotension and bronchospasm using established management algorithms in a perioperative environment.Critical thinking and clinical reasoning — apply systematically when reviewing patient data to refine anesthetic technique selection for patients with known chronic conditions.
proficient
Comprehensive preoperative risk stratification — conduct autonomously across high-complexity patient populations, integrating multisystem comorbidities and pharmacological interactions before major surgical procedures.Full-spectrum anesthetic techniques including regional, neuraxial, and general methods — select and execute independently based on individualized patient risk-benefit analysis in a tertiary care surgical environment.Intraoperative hemodynamic and physiological instability — diagnose and manage without supervision, applying advanced pharmacological and mechanical interventions during complex or prolonged surgeries.Life support and emergency airway management — lead resuscitation efforts including difficult airway algorithms and advanced cardiac life support when unexpected crises arise in the operating room.Anesthesia record integrity and clinical documentation — produce comprehensive, legally defensible operative notes and compliance reports using hospital information systems across all procedure types.Multidisciplinary surgical coordination — negotiate and align anesthesia plans with surgical, nursing, and perfusion teams for high-acuity cases including cardiac, neurosurgical, and trauma procedures.Post-anesthetic stabilization decisions — make independent, nuanced discharge or transfer judgments for critically ill or complex patients recovering in surgical intensive care or PACU environments.Rare and severe anesthetic complications such as malignant hyperthermia or anaphylaxis — recognize and treat immediately using evidence-based emergency protocols in a live surgical setting.Patient and family education regarding anesthetic risk — communicate clearly and empathetically across health literacy levels during preoperative consultations in ambulatory and inpatient contexts.Clinical evidence and pharmacological literature — synthesize continuously to refine practice and apply emerging anesthetic agents or techniques in day-to-day patient care.
advanced
Departmental anesthesia protocols and clinical practice guidelines — design, implement, and revise at organizational scale to reflect current evidence and improve patient safety outcomes across a health system.Anesthesiology workforce development — mentor residents, fellows, and advanced practice providers through structured clinical training programs within an academic medical center or large group practice.Quality improvement and patient safety initiatives — lead institution-wide programs targeting anesthetic adverse event reduction, using outcomes data and systems evaluation frameworks.Strategic resource allocation for perioperative services — direct scheduling, staffing models, and technology adoption decisions to optimize surgical throughput and operational efficiency across multiple operating suites.Complex ethical and medicolegal decisions involving anesthetic care — advise hospital leadership, ethics committees, and legal counsel on high-stakes cases involving informed consent, capacity, and end-of-life scenarios.Research programs in anesthesiology and perioperative medicine — design and oversee clinical trials or translational studies, securing funding and translating findings into improved practice standards.Interdisciplinary care coordination at executive level — represent anesthesiology on hospital boards, surgical services committees, and accreditation bodies to shape perioperative policy.Performance evaluation frameworks for anesthesia providers — establish competency benchmarks, credentialing criteria, and peer review processes that drive continuous professional accountability.Advanced technology adoption including novel monitoring systems and medical software platforms — evaluate, champion, and oversee enterprise-wide implementation to enhance intraoperative safety and data capture.Crisis resource management and simulation-based training curricula — develop and lead programs that build team response capability for rare but catastrophic intraoperative emergencies across the clinical enterprise.
Also known as
44 alternate job titles map to this occupation.
Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), Women's Health Care Nurse Practitioner (Air Force 46Y3A)AnesthetistStaff AnesthesiologistObstetrical AnesthesiologistNurse Anesthetist (Army 66F)Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), Aeromedical Nurse Practitioner (Air Force 46Y4F)Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), Adult Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (Air Force 46Y1P)General AnesthesiologistAdvanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (Air Force 46Y1C)AnaesthesiologistAdvanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (Air Force 46Y3C)Surgical Technologist (Navy 001372)Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (Air Force 46Y1B)Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), Adult Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (Air Force 46Y3P)Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), Family Nurse Practitioner (Air Force 46Y1H)Nurse Corps Officer (Army 66)Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), Aeromedical Nurse Practitioner (Air Force 46Y1F)Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) (Air Force 46YX)Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), Women's Health Care Nurse Practitioner (Air Force 46Y1A)Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (Air Force 46Y3M)Anesthesiology Pain Management PhysicianAdvanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (Air Force 46Y3B)Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), Family Nurse Practitioner (Air Force 46Y4H)Ambulatory AnesthesiologistAdvanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), Certified Nurse Midwife (Air Force 46Y1G)Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), Family Nurse Practitioner (Air Force 46Y3H)Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (Air Force 46Y4M)Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), Women's Health Care Nurse Practitioner (Air Force 46Y4A)Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (Air Force 46Y4B)Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), Adult Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (Air Force 46Y4P)Medical Doctor (MD)Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (Air Force 46Y1M)AnesthesiologistSugical Technologist (Navy L23A)DO Physician (Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine Physician)Pediatric AnesthesiologistNurse Anesthetist (Navy 0952)Staff AnesthetistAdvanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (Air Force 46Y4C)Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), Certified Nurse Midwife (Air Force 46Y3G)