Expert: Ronald Levy, M.D. - 7/3/2009

Question
I have heard that anesthesiologists are not at the hospital the time and i have also heard that they are. I would like to know how much time they spend at the hospital or clinic and how often they get vacations. This career really interests me but i am also afraid that i will not have a lot of time to spend with my family.

Answer
It depends on what type of practice you have but in general, a hospital is a 24/7 operation so there must always be anesthesiology coverage. In some cases that means in-hospital and in other cases it can be call from home. In general you can expect to work from 40-60 hours/week. Vacation time varies by practice. In academic practice, typically it is 3-4 weeks. In private it can be anywhere from 0 to 12 weeks (in SOME private practices you only get paid if you work so if you take vacation you not only don't get paid but you need to find someone to cover your cases).

Ronald Levy, MD
Professor of Anesthesiology
UTMB-Galveston