CRNA Vs. MD

ThisMurseCanFly · Mar 25, 2010

please don't become either "for the money." Being an MD or anesthetist is WAAAYYY too important a role if you are not passionate about the work or the patients. (and CRNA can be hours behind the drape watching monitors.)

There are plenty of ways to make as much or more money than these professions that don't cost lives if you mess up.

sserrn, BSN · Mar 26, 2010

(1) google it...putting patients to sleep, pain management in some cases, monitoring patient during surgeries, etc.

(2) you would have to become an RN (my understanding is that you could do an ADN OR ASN instead of BSN since you already will have a BS--you do have to have a Bachelor's for CRNA school, but I don't think it has to be in nursing in most cases), then work in critical care for at least 1 year (and sometimes several, depending on the particular program), and then you could apply to CRNA programs.

lifeistweet · Mar 26, 2010

If I was young I would definately go for the MD. Anesthesiologists make so much more than CRNA's and often they supervise only, which is easy. They also have a pretty nice lifestyle, no office overhead, etc.

gigi01 · Mar 26, 2010

if you are doing it for the money PLEASE DO NOT DO IT if there is no true passion, you will get burned out. :twocents:

foreverLaur · Mar 26, 2010

2) How long would it take me to get a CRNA. Currently I am a sophomore in Psychology (finished all physics, bio, chem, math).
You would need your BSN first. You could either switch to a nursing major now, or you could pursue a 12-15 month 2nd degree BSN after you get your first degree.
You would then need at least 1 year experience in a critical care setting (usually adult ICU). Some schools also require you to get your CCRN. Most nurse have more than 1 year critical care experience and the critical care experience typically requires at least a year experience elsewhere as it is rare to get an ICU job as a new grad nurse.
CRNA school is then 27 months in length.
Most CRNAs do duties very similar to anesthesiologists. A friend of mine is a CRNA and when I asked her about her job, she stated: "I love being a CRNA. I always watch the entire surgery, and would venture to say that it is the responsibility of the anesthesia provider to do so. There are sterile drapes--don't get me wrong--I'm not doing any suturing or anything like that--but I have a different role. That is to keep the patient stable, determine what treatments they need during surgery (blood transfusions, pain management, etc.) and do those things. I also do a lot of nerve blocks, epidurals, spinals, central and arterial line placements, etc." She also said: "Your autonomy as a CRNA depends entirely on where you work and who you are working with. If you are "medically directed" the Anesthesiologist is required to be there for induction and emergence (though they may not always actually be there). This is the most common form of practice. Unless you go to medical school, you are not going to have complete autonomy in any area of practice. It's just not a realistic goal. However, I do everything an anesthesiologist does--I do regional anesthesia, spinals, epidurals, put in central lines and a-lines, intubate, manage emergencies, etc."
Hopefully this helps you out some with your decision!!
Keep in mind that the rest of the country is catching on that the CRNA job is big bucks with great hours and no medical school so expect schools to be tougher to get into, salaries to go down, and jobs to be harder to get.

RNYC · Mar 26, 2010

you would have to go to nursing school, graduate, acquire BSN, then work at least 2-4 yrs (realistically) as a RN and acquire ICU experience as a bedside nurse. Then, the process can be (not as hard as med school) VERY challenging to get in. If you get 3.9-4.0 in nursing school might help the cause. Don't assume thats easy at all btw...nursing school can be challenging. I have heard of CRNA schools getting 400 apps, 30 interviews, 6 people in a class at an "ok" school. Hope this helps. If your looking to be a CRNA right away, its impossible...there no school that doesnt require at least 1 yr of critical care experience. Furthermore, most of my friends who are CRNA had 3-8 yrs exp...then they got in. Realistically I have heard 2 yrs of experience is fine. All in all, 4 yrs BSN, 1 yr ICU (minimum), 2.5 yrs of full time education would get you to the final destination provide everything went perfectly - but thats rarely the case in life!

allnurses Guide · Mar 26, 2010

Hello everyone, just found this site so this is my first post.
Currently I am an undergrad working on acceptance to medical school. I'm not going to lie though, a majority of the motivation is the money. I just discovered CRNA's though and they make a lot of money with little debt doing roughly the same thing I wanted to do in the first place. I have a few questions I hope someone can help me out with here:
1) On a day-to-day basis, what would a CRNA end up doing? This can be broad, I just want to get an idea of if it's just put patients to sleep and wake them up or more.
2) How long would it take me to get a CRNA. Currently I am a sophomore in Psychology (finished all physics, bio, chem, math).
Thanks!

1) Medical school is usually highly subsidized by most states.

2) You get paid during medical residency, and unless you are in the military you won't be getting paid while in nurse anesthesia school.

3) It is not unusual for nurse anesthetists to come out of school with 200K in debt.

4) The stress of the school alone is not worth the money, if just want to make over 100K in very technical job working with patients then look at something like cardiopulmonary bypass perfusionist. http://www.texasheartinstitute.org/Education/Train/perfusion.cfm

5) It takes a minimum of 7yrs to become a CRNA. Depending on the prereqs. you have finished already you could deduct that from the total, but in general it takes most people 10+yrs to become a CRNA. CRNA school ranges from 24-36mo with more schools slowly converting to the DNP/DNAP (which isn't a requirement for CRNAs until 2025 unlike other APNs which is 2015, but some NA schools are making the change already anyways) so you can expect most schools to start being around 3yrs in the near future. http://www.aana.com/abouttheprofession.aspx

6) Depending on where you work the CRNAs can and do do everything an anesthesiologist does. In general the biggest difference is that you won't usually see CRNAs doing long-term management of patients in ICU, and only a small number of CRNAs practice chronic pain management.

bibibi · Mar 26, 2010

go for md. it will take you same amount of time, but more opportunities and more money as an md

twntrbo15 · Mar 26, 2010

go for md. it will take you same amount of time, but more opportunities and more money as an md

I think you are a little mistaken about the time frame. It is a lot faster to become a CRNA as opposed to an MDA, but you are also going to make a lot less as a CRNA compared to an MDA. Not a lot of people will admit it, but most people want to be CRNA's because of the money. Sure you may enjoy helping people and the science behind the drugs you get to use, but that high paycheck is also a great bonus.

paindoc · Mar 27, 2010

Well, don't be mislead by those saying it is not about money...it is ALL about money. CRNAs make far more than any other group in nursing and more than many physicians. Their educational requirements are minimal....currently 6-6.5 years of training, and with an average salary of $185,000 per year, that comes out to around 30,000K per year of training. Anesthesiologists train for 12 years and have virtually the same income per year of training.

CRNAs have a very cushy lifestyle working an average of a little less than 40 hours a week (since most are employees, employers frequently don't enjoy paying an extremely high paid nurse time and a half for overtime). Therefore, the average CRNA makes around $92 an hour in salary alone, and then add on the benefits, and it puts them way over this amount. There are many times between cases when there are long turnover times, holes in the operating schedule due to improper scheduling or inefficiencies or cancellation of cases, etc, when CRNAs will frequently go out for smoking breaks or sit in the physician's lounge reading newspapers or hobnobbing in the cafeteria with the medical staff. Many hospitals have significant down time in the OR which frequently translates into free time (= not working time) for CRNAs. It is a life of luxury and bliss compared with most nurses who are slogging it out on the wards or having to listen to patients complain endlessly. CRNAs simply knock their lights out and voila! No more complaints! To quote a CRNA from another forum:

stanman1968

04-13-2008, 06:09 AM

"Do not get so worked up guys, we all know the salary is one thing that drew us. It is not what keeps year after year. It is no different in any profession, medicine sports business. Do not get upset, the lure of good pay way will interest the most motivated and education will winnow out those cannot do it."

CRNAs should be proud to make more than 97% of the American population working only 40 hours a week! It is a dream job everyone would aspire to. As much as CRNAs complain about their jobs sometimes, it ain't flippin' burgers, and they live in the privilege of wealth and power that few in our society achieve.

stanman1968 · Mar 28, 2010

It is true, money gets you to consider and love of the profession keeps you. Any moaning and complaining about status and pay by anesthesiologists or CRNA's is just a whiny pity party.