How To Become an Anesthesiologist in 5 Steps

Thanks to anesthesiologists, most surgeries and medical procedures can be done while the patient is asleep. At the very least, they can be numbed so they don't feel the procedure.

To become an anesthesiologist, you'll need to graduate from medical school, complete an anesthesiology residency, and obtain a medical license from your state.

Keep reading to learn more about anesthesiologists and discover how to become an anesthesiologist in five steps.

What Is an Anesthesiologist?

An anesthesiologist is a medical doctor who focuses on pain management, especially during surgeries and medical procedures.

Anesthesiologists are in charge of determining the right type and amount of anesthetic and administering the anesthetic.

This can be a difficult job, as the anesthesiologist needs to look at things like the height, weight, and medical conditions and complications of the patient as well as the type of procedure they are undergoing.

When a patient is given general anesthesia, anesthesiologists must be present to monitor the patient before, during, and after the procedure.

The general job duties of an anesthesiologist may include:

• administering anesthesia
• calculating the right dosage of anesthesia for a patient and adjusting the dosage as necessary
• checking patient records and adding information as needed
• determining which type of anesthesia will work best for a patent's procedure
• helping patients wake up from anesthesia
• monitoring patient vital signs, like heart rate and breathing, during surgery and other procedures
• monitoring patients to ensure they don't have an adverse reaction to anesthesia

Anesthesiologists are often leaders of anesthesia care teams, which may also include nurse anesthetists, anesthesia assistants, and anesthesia technicians.

Many anesthesiologists work in hospitals or surgery centers, but they can also work in clinics and dental offices.

There are several steps to becoming an anesthesiologist, and we've broken them down below.

Step 1: Earn a Bachelor's Degree

Before you can go to medical school, you must first earn a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university. These are four-year undergraduate degrees.

There is no specific major you must have to go to medical school, but many medical schools require that you've taken biology, chemistry, and physics courses in undergrad.

More than half of medical school applicants major in the biological sciences, but other common fields of study include the physical sciences, social sciences, and humanities.

Some colleges and universities offer a pre-med track to students planning on going to medical school, but this is not a requirement to get into medical school.

Step 2: Take the MCAT and Apply to Medical School

Different medical schools have different requirements for admission, but most require students to take and submit their scores for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT).

The MCAT is an exam offered by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) that is meant to test your readiness for medical school. It's broken into four sections:

• biological and biochemical foundations of living systems
• chemical and physical foundations of biological systems
• psychological, social, and biological foundations of behavior
• critical analysis and reasoning skills (CARS)

On each section, you can earn a score between 118 and 132 for a total score between 472 and 528. Typically, a good score is considered anything above 511.

If you don't earn the score you want, you are allowed to retake the MCAT. You can take the MCAT a total of seven times in your life.

The AAMC also offers an online database called the Medical School Admissions Requirements (MSAR) that tells you what you'll need for each medical school's application.

In addition to your college transcript and MCAT scores, you may also need things like letters of recommendation and personal essays.

Many students use the AAMC's American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS), a centralized medical school application processing service, to apply to medical school.

You can find a full list of accredited U.S. medical schools through the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME).

Step 3: Graduate From Medical School

Once you reach medical school, you can expect it to take about four years for you to earn your Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree.

During the first year or two, you'll spend most of your time in didactic learning, with lectures and labs as you learn the fundamentals of medicine.

In your second or third year, depending on your school, you'll begin clinical rotations. Each clinical rotation lasts a few weeks and has you experience a different department or specialty.

Medical schools have core rotations that all students are required to complete, like internal medicine, OB/GYN, and pediatrics. Sometimes anesthesia is a core clinical.

Many schools also let you choose a portion of your clinical rotations, so if anesthesia isn't a core requirement, you'll still get a chance to experience an anesthesia rotation.

Once you've started medical school, you can take the first two steps of the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE).

This is a three-step test required for licensure in all states. The first step evaluates your foundational medical science knowledge, while the second assesses your knowledge of clinical medicine.

You can't take the third step of the USMLE until you've been in residency for at least one year.

Step 4: Complete an Anesthesiology Residency

Although you've graduated from medical school, your education isn't complete. Next, you need to complete an anesthesiology rotation.

Residency is a period of time after medical school when you specifically focus on studying one specialty area. Anesthesiology residencies usually take four years.

Your first year of residency, called the internship year, is usually spent in a mix of didactic and hands-on learning under the guidance of a licensed and experienced anesthesiologist.

As you progress through your residency, you'll be given more complex anesthesiology tasks to complete and be under less supervision.

After your first year of residency, you can take the last step of the USMLE, which tests how well you apply your clinical knowledge of medicine to patient management.

Step 5: Obtain Your Medical License

After you've graduated from medical school, completed your residency, and passed all three steps of the USMLE, you can pursue your medical license.

Medical licenses are given by the state and are required to practice medicine. The specific requirements are set by each state's board of medicine.

Aside from completing medical school and residency and passing the USMLE, you may need to meet other requirements, such as passing a background check.

Depending on your state, you may need to fulfill a certain amount of continuing education credits to keep your license current.

Become an Anesthesiologist

Anesthesiologists focus on pain management, such as putting a patient to sleep for a surgery or medical procedure.

To become an anesthesiologist, you need to complete medical school and residency and obtain a medical license from your state.

With the steps outlined above, you can start your journey toward becoming an anesthesiologist today.