The anesthesiologist has been re-branded as the physician anesthesiologist. Check out the site for the American Society of Anesthesiologist. The Twitter feed for the American Society of Anesthesiologists has members referencing this designation.

When you modify anesthesiologist with ‘physician’ it implies that anesthesiologists are no longer only physicians. I missed the email that there were other kinds of anesthesiologists.

While I understand that there may be confusion about the difference between an anesthesiologist and anesthetist, a better response might be to educate the world about how special an anesthesiologist is rather than create a new designation.

The physician anesthesiologists are clearly afraid of becoming providers. Or maybe it’s all about the label.

More evidence that the delivery of advanced medical care is no longer the domain of MDs.

Image from Anaesthetics : their uses and administration, Philadelphia : P. Blakiston’s Son & Co.,1914. Contributed by the Francis Countway Library to the Internet Archives.