Anesthesiologist Assistants

Assist anesthesiologists in the administration of anesthesia for surgical and non-surgical procedures. Monitor patient status and provide patient care during surgical treatment.

Most important skills

Monitoring
Reading Comprehension
Active Listening
Speaking
Active Learning
Critical Thinking
Judgment and Decision Making
Operations Monitoring

Key knowledge

Medicine and Dentistry
Biology
English Language
Mathematics
Chemistry
Physics
Customer and Personal Service
Education and Training

What the work involves

Verify availability of operating room supplies, medications, and gases.
Provide clinical instruction, supervision or training to staff in areas such as anesthesia practices.
Collect samples or specimens for diagnostic testing.
Participate in seminars, workshops, or other professional activities to keep abreast of developments in anesthesiology.
Collect and document patients' pre-anesthetic health histories.
Provide airway management interventions including tracheal intubation, fiber optics, or ventilary support.
Respond to emergency situations by providing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), basic cardiac life support (BLS), advanced cardiac life support (ACLS), or pediatric advanced life support (PALS).
Monitor and document patients' progress during post-anesthesia period.

Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Conventional, Social, Investigative.

Qualifications and licensing

Most common education: Master's Degree (96.3% of expert ratings)
Related experience: None (63%)
On-the-job training: Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (40.7%)
Preparation level: O*NET job zone 5: Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed
Licensing: Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.

Check before planning

Licensing for Anesthesiologist Assistants is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Projection education uses SOC 29-1071 (detailed_parent); it may describe a broader group.

Limits

Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.

Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0

Work environment

How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).

Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.

Rankings compare typical U.S. occupation-level work conditions; individual jobs and employers vary. Data: O*NET 31.0 Work Context and BLS wages (May 2025).
Condition	Level	Compared with other occupations	Most common answer (O*NET survey)
Contact with others	Very high	Higher on contact with others than 92% of occupations compared	96% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others”
Dealing with the public	High	Higher on dealing with the public than 65% of occupations compared	52% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important”
Teamwork	Very high	Higher on teamwork than 97% of occupations compared	89% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important”
Freedom to make decisions	Moderate	Lower on freedom to make decisions than 53% of occupations compared	59% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom”
Time pressure	Low	Lower on time pressure than 74% of occupations compared	52% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day”
Conflict situations	High	Higher on conflict situations than 73% of occupations compared	37% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week”
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people	Very high	Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 85% of occupations compared	48% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day”
Consequence of error	Very high	Higher on consequence of error than 99% of occupations compared	93% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious”

Work-pressure profile

Time pressure: low
Conflict situations: high
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
Consequence of error: very high

Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.

Full answer distributions