Undergoing surgery without pain medication would be literally unbearable. Imagine having your appendix or tonsils out without having a medication to dull the sensation of the surgeon's scalpel. Anesthesia is used to block the nerve impulses of pain from reaching your brain. Pain medication basically causes a lack of awareness in your state of mind so that you do not feel the pain. Anesthesiology is a critical branch of the medical field. If there were no anesthetics, patients who desperately needed surgery would be unable or unwilling to have the procedure done. There are very few people who could withstand surgery without pain medication to numb the pain.

Anesthesiology is the branch of medicine that deals with pain and the blockage of pain during a medical procedure. An anesthesiologist is a medical doctor who gives medical care to patients before, during, and after surgery. They administer anesthetic medication to the patient before surgery so that they can have their surgery performed and they help patients wake up after surgery in as little pain as possible. A good anesthesiologist is able to discern what a patient needs to be comfortable and how much of a drug to give a patient. An anesthesiologist can also control the amount of medication that a patient can receive. Due to the addictive nature of some painkillers, they must be controlled through the use of medication locks and limits on patients.  

There are different types of anesthesia available to patients. A local anesthetic can be placed just on the location where the medical procedure or surgery is being performed. For example, you may need a local anesthetic for a tooth extraction. A regional anesthetic is one that covers a larger area or region of the body, for example, an epidural during labor. A general anesthetic is one that renders you completely unconscious, for a major surgery you may be undergoing in which you need to be fully asleep.  

The drugs used as anesthesia for animals in veterinary practice are very similar to the ones used for humans. Anesthetic drugs sometimes have to be administered at a distance with animals for safety reasons. Veterinarians who finish a two year residency in anesthesiology and qualify to be certified by the American College of Veterinary Anesthesiologists are called veterinarian anesthesiologists. In contrast, to become an anesthesiologist for humans requires a four year residency program. The four year residency includes a one year surgical internship and three years of anesthesiology training.

If you would like a career working in anesthesia and with anesthetic agents, investigate a medical career. Talk to other anesthesiologists about the profession to see if it is a good fit for you because a career as an anesthesiologist is very demanding. Seek out nurses who are also anesthetists to see what they think of their career and if they would recommend it for you. Anesthesiologists have vital roles on the healthcare surgical team and the career is very fulfilling. Complete your undergraduate degree, medical degree, and residency training, and you will be on your way to a very rewarding career in the medical field.