Anesthesia as a Career Option: How Can We Make it a More Popular Choice for Postgraduate Aspirants?

Sir, Anesthesiology is expanding every day as a branch rich in prospects for the aspiring postgraduate. With a good work–life balance along with early settlement in terms of a future job, anesthesia offers a lot as a branch which has the potential to make it extremely attractive.1 With the expansion in the role of anesthetists, there is a continuous demand for anesthetists even outside the operating theater.2 How do the majority of undergraduates and interns feel about anesthesia as a future option? The answer is quite depressing. Here, in India, a large chunk of interns remain unexposed to the branch. In most teaching institutes, the majority of the work for anesthesia is done by the postgraduates, starting from the preanesthetic checkup to the various procedures in the OT, as well as following up on the patient in the postoperative period.3 Interns are primarily treated as mere observers and are usually allowed to leave in a few hours. Their attendance is not given much thought in many places and hence a majority of interns do not attend their anesthesia postings. Instead, they utilize that time to study for future examinations. Very few institutes have a system to actively involve anesthesia interns in the day-to-day functioning of their department. Anesthesia was always one of my first choices, and one of the primary reasons behind this was the exposure I got during my anesthesia internship. Along with having postgraduates who were very interested in orienting us to the subject, we were also given chances at a variety of procedures which exponentially increased our interest in the subject. When most postgraduate aspirants are asked to fill their choices for postgraduation, their lack of familiarity with the subject plays a huge role in their hesitation to choose anesthesia. This results in anesthesia becoming one of the last specialties to get filled up, despite its excellent future prospects.4 While it is not possible for interns to become airway specialists in their postings, training them to monitor and administer drugs under supervision could play a huge role in making them feel more involved and changing their outlook toward the branch. With protocolized and standardized training programs, interns can be prepared to handle anesthesia residency with more confidence and competence.5 Anesthetists and postgraduates specifically must take up the responsibility to actively get interns and MBBS students acquainted to the basics of anesthesia. What happens on our side of the screen usually remains an enigma to most students visiting the OT. For students and interns interested in surgical specialties, the basics of anesthesia such as resuscitation and monitoring as well as learning to load and administer drugs will prove to be extremely helpful in the future. The introduction of anesthesia to a much greater extent in the MBBs curriculum can also help massively in this regard. I hope to 1 day see a greater proportion of enthusiastic young undergraduates applying for anesthesia as their number one residency choice! Financial support and sponsorship Nil. Conflicts of interest There are no conflicts of interest.