Expert: Ronald Levy, M.D. - 5/13/2008

Question
Hello Doctor,
I am 17 and about to be a senior in high school. I know I want to work with anesthesiology but I'm not sure about being an Anesthesiologist or a CRNA. My main question is do CRNA's get to do a lot of hands on work, and are they challenged on a daily basis? I was also thinking that I would just be a CRNA and then become an anesthesiologist when I get older if I wanted to. So I was wondering if there is a program that bridges from Nurse Anesthesiology to Anesthesiology. Thanks for your help!

Kristen

Answer
To answer your first question, CRNAs do the same thing as anesthesiologists. The main difference is the amount of education, the compensation and anesthesiologists tend to do the more challenging cases.  As to your second question, there is no bridge. They are completely separate tracks so you should decide in advance which one you want.

Ronald Levy, MD
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology
UTMB-Galveston