Should i go to Crna schol or become m.d?

akijitsu · Dec 3, 2003

one more...

how long is the anesthesia residency in med school. i thought it was three, but i heard both 2 and 4.

thanks

sweetdreams · Dec 3, 2003

akijitsu

Welcome to the board. Both professions you are considering provide excellent anesthesia care to patients

My answer to your questions.

"1. salaries for MDAs seem to be twice that of crna (average). but i have read that you can bill for the same amount as a crna that you can as an mda, is this true? "

You are correct on this one for the time being, however 20% of the states in the nation have removed the law that required CRNAs to be supervised. The way that MDAs can make more money than CRNAs is by supervising numerous CRNAs and billing for the service, so this change in the law may decrease their earning potential.

2."mda's generally seem to take more call, does this seem true to everyone out there?"

This will depend on the location of the hospital. In many rural areas there are only CRNAs, no MDAs who are on call basically 24/7.

3. "i would get out of school a lot faster as a crna, and no crappy paying, all night residency."

You will probabley get out of school about the same time. Very few people get into CRNA school with the minimum 1 year ICU experience; more often its 5-6 years of working as an RN, (you might compare "crappy" paying resident wages to what RNs make.

4."more respected (apparently) as an mda."

Depends on the individual. If you're dedicated, work hard, and know your stuff; you'll be respected regardless.

DoctorRN · Dec 3, 2003

Anesthesiology residencies are three and four years depending on which program you choose.

There are no two year residency programs in any specialty area.

As far as salary during residency, yes you can compare the crappy pay to that of a nurse but if you take into account actual hours worked, you will be making between 7 and 9 dollars an hour.... show me a nurse that will work for that.

There is an 80 hour rule for residency programs now that keep you from being worked to death. (now that Johns Hopkins lost their accredidation for violating the 80 hour rule people are actually following it).

It is a difficult decision to make. I can't speak for CRNA school, I haven't done it.... med school is difficult. It is not so much the material that is hard but the sheer volume of material that you must learn in a given period of time.

If you are interested in info about different residency programs, check out http://www.scutwork.com or http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/2997.html

For pre-med discussion go to http://www.studentdoctor.net

You also have to consider that you might get into med school and decide that you would rather do something else with your life than anesthesia.

Ultimately it comes down to what is important to you.

Med school is only 4 years and residency only 3-4 more not really that much time in the big scheme of things if it ultimately ends in what you really want.

Hope this was helpful and if you have an specific questions about med school post nursing I will be glad to talk to you.

blazeboy97 · Dec 3, 2003

During my clinicals what I'm hearing some of the MDAs saying is "if I had it to do all over, I would have gone to CRNA school".

Go figure!!

mommyof2grls · Dec 3, 2003

Anesthesia residents just out of residency are making less than 190K in a population of about 400K. In that same population CRNA's are making 120K. Crna's in Rurual populations are making 150K and some closer to and over 200K. These postitions are usually 30-50% of the call, but the case load is usually significantly smaller and call in is on average a lot less. In this same rural area an MDA, not Anesthesiologist, is making around 100K to 120K MAYBE, in the various practices. Alot of small hospitals are otping to take 2 CRNA's over 1 MDA and one CRNA due to the cost.

Just a few things I have picked up from various people I know.

Good luck in your voyage!

akijitsu · Dec 3, 2003

whoa, wait a minute. that last post made it sound like there was a difference between an MDA and an anesthesiologist. i thought they were the same thing?

mommyof2grls · Dec 3, 2003

My Bad, Typo.. drop the A.

ckalston · Dec 3, 2003

Hi,

I would like to know the thoughts of the room on a RN with multiple years of PACU experience as opposed to ICU experience. Do you know if this experience is considered good enough to apply for a CRNA school.

sweetdreams · Dec 4, 2003

From the programs I visited with, ICU experience is not negotiable: and bigger and busier is better. I also had ER and PACU experience and I feel that are both a nice addition to the ICU work that I've done...different drugs used....different patient approach. Now that I'm in school I draw from all three areas of experience.

The problem some schools see with PACU only is the lesser exposure to the real sick pts.

Dave

smogmatt · Dec 4, 2003

CRNA all the way

but...

I want to live in a rural area, not many MDA's there.

I was in the same boat several years ago, I chose the CRNA way, and so far so good,

I will say CRNA schooling is no walk in the park, its tough, my program is 26m nonstop (except for holidays) lots of volume of material but they build on what you have already learned in the ICU and RN school

good luck

Tenesma · Dec 4, 2003

I think the biggest difference between CRNA and MDA is the breadth of stuff you can do during your career... forget about the money, because you will make enough with either career to have a comfortable life.

If you go to med school and become an MDA you can provide anesthesia, or run a PACU, or run a surgical or cardio-thoracic surgical ICU, or run a pain clinic, etc... there are more options available to you...

and mommyof2girls... most of my graduating colleagues started their salaries at 300k and were partners after 2-3 years making almost twice that amount... it is sick i tell you... just plain sick :)

either way, i think both are very satisfying careers - because you get to do anesthesia, which i think is one of the coolest and least well understood things in the world !