West Coast Jobs

[Kramer03]

Hello, everyone I opened an account because I've seen people give very good advice on this site before and hope some of you can give me some useful information too. I'm from the PA area and will be graduating from my CRNA program this May. My wife and I are looking to move out west because were very outdoorsy. Since we aren't as familiar with the west we've been looking at some of the more familiar and highly desired areas (Jackson, WY, Salt Lake City or Ogden,UT, Tahoe/Reno/Carson City, Denver/Fort Collins area, etc.). It seems nearly impossible to find out information about CRNA jobs in these regions. Are there truly no jobs in these places or their surrounding areas? I can't imagine the MDs have that much of a strong hold everywhere. I'm just wondering if people have information about these regions, hospitals that may hire CRNAs but are to small to afford posting online, west coast anesthesia groups, or anything that could help me to network out in these areas to find a job.

I'm also open to other good places to try living too if people have recommendations with job opportunities.

[loveanesthesia]

Those you listed are very tough. The urban legend is beginning in the 70's the ASA began a systematic push to eliminate CRNAs, and started on the West coast. There were almost no CRNA educational programs in the mountain states/west coast between 1980-2000. Now the number of CRNAs is increasing, but CO ASA brought AAs into the Denver area and that has brought salaries and jobs down. You won't find many jobs advertised, it's mostly word of mouth.

[Kramer03]

Is there anything specific you would recommend doing to help find these word of mouth jobs? Should I try attending conferences in these states or are there better options?