Are young doctors interested in anesthesiology careers?
PEARL: About five years ago there was a perceived excess of anesthesiologists, and I think medical students were counseled by deans and advisors nationally not to apply for anesthesia residencies. Applications plummeted to less than a quarter of where they had been. It resulted in the closure of many residencies although I think the strongest programs survived. But the demand, despite expectations, markedly increased. We’ve found that surgery has not gone away and that managed care has sometimes deferred but not reduced the volume of service. Surgery volume is actually increasing and groups are trying extremely hard to hire anesthesiologists. Anesthesiology training is desired by students and training program applications have quadrupled in the past two years. We had about 250 applications for 15 positions this year, and the same trend is occurring nationally. We are seeing an increase in both the quality and quantity of students interested in anesthesia. But there is a five-year lead
