Anesthesia Roads Less Traveled: Paths to Executive Leadership Positions

Summary: Among the offerings at ANESTHESIOLOGY? 2018 was a panel discussion by three anesthesiologists who have made the successful transition to executive leadership roles in healthcare administration, industry and public policy. We highlight selected comments from the panelists and ASA resources for members interested in pursuing various kinds of leadership opportunities.

One of the most thought-provoking sessions at ANESTHESIOLOGY? 2018 in San Francisco was the panel discussion on anesthesiologists as leaders in healthcare administration, industry and public policy. This eAlert provides insights from participants on why they made the transition and what that journey entailed. 

"I'm biased, but anesthesiologists are natural leaders when it comes to being physician executives," said moderator Mohammed M. Minhaj, MD, MBA, of the University of Chicago, who organized the panel with ASA CEO Paul Pomerantz, MBA. "They understand the perioperative space better than anyone else, they work with all sorts of personalities—which gives them an advantage in terms of dealing with them—and often, their interests are aligned with the healthcare system, which allows them to be sort of neutral when it comes to settling problems with different kinds of providers."

In addition to having many of the skills to become physician executives, anesthesiologists also have the desire. Twelve percent of participants in the ASA's most recent biannual survey indicated interest in moving into an executive position within the next five years, Mr. Pomerantz reported. Among mid-career members (age 41-55), that number rose to 18 percent. "It's a viable career interest, and a specific area of interest," he observed. "Anesthesiologists are in a unique position because you work with multiple specialties, you deal with conflict, you deal with complex systems, and probably more than anything else, you deal with the focal point of the hospital's business—the operating room and the procedural areas, where the revenue is generated."

The ANESTHESIOLOGY 2018 panel consisted of three anesthesiologists whose career paths have involved taking on various non-clinical leadership roles, within and outside of medicine. Selected comments regarding their career paths follow.

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