Questions to Ask in an Anesthesia Job Interview
These are questions for an anesthesiologist finishing residency or fellowship, a CRNA or an anesthesiologist assistant (AA) to ask when interviewing with a private group, a hospital or a surgery center. They follow the order the day usually takes: the practice model, ratios and staffing first, then cases and sites, call and hours, the group and its hospital contract, pay and contract terms, and a few to ask before you leave. Scope of practice, pay arrangements and restrictive covenants differ by state, country and employer, so the notes on those point you to what to check where you are interviewing.
The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Model and staffing
What is the practice model here: physician-only, an anesthesia care team, or CRNAs working independently?
Why ask it
Every other answer on the day hangs on this one, so get it first and in plain terms. A clear reply walks through an ordinary case: who sees the patient beforehand, who is in the room for induction, who gets called when something changes. If the model differs between the main hospital and the surgery center, ask which one you would spend most of your weeks in.
What is the supervision ratio on a normal day, and how far does it stretch when you are short?
Why ask it
The first number is the policy and the second is the job. For a physician it sets how many rooms you answer for at once; for a CRNA or an anesthesiologist assistant (AA) it sets how fast help can reach you. 'It depends' is a fair start if yesterday's real numbers follow it, and a worry if nobody can say who decides when a room opens without coverage.
As an anesthesiologist, how many days a month would I do my own cases, and how many would I spend supervising?
Why ask it
Some physicians want their hands on every case and some would rather run several rooms from the hallway, so this split decides whether the job suits you. Put it to a physician hired in the last two or three years, since the newest people can end up with the mix nobody else wanted. If the answer is all supervising, find out how people here keep their own skills up.
As a CRNA or an AA, how much of the anesthetic plan is mine, and when am I expected to call?
Why ask it
Listen for whether the plan is agreed in a short conversation or handed over as a set of instructions. Neither is wrong, but one of them will suit how you trained and the other will wear on you. What a facility permits is set by its own bylaws and by local rules, so ask how it works at each site you would cover.
Why is the group hiring now: growth, a new contract, or someone leaving?
Why ask it
New operating rooms or a newly won site mean the work is there and the group is staffing up to do it. If someone left, ask how long they had been here and whether they went to another anesthesia job nearby. Several openings at once in a group that is not growing, or a seat that has sat empty for a year, is the answer to slow down on.
How many anesthesiologists, CRNAs and AAs work here, and how many shifts are filled by locums at the moment?
Why ask it
Headcount against the number of rooms run each day tells you how thin the coverage is before anyone takes vacation. Heavy reliance on temporary staff is not a mark against a group on its own, but it often explains the hiring, the overtime and the mood. The follow-up is how long the locums have been needed and what the plan is to stop needing them.
Who makes the daily assignments, and how are the heavy rooms and the light ones divided?
Why ask it
One person with a pencil decides what most of your days feel like. Ask whether assignments come out the night before, whether requests are taken, and whether the same few people always seem to land the long spine room. A scheduler who can explain the logic in a minute is running a fairer board than one who says it just works out.
Which procedures would I do myself: spinals and epidurals, nerve blocks, arterial and central lines?
Why ask it
Privileges on paper and habits in the hallway can differ, so ask who placed the last few blocks and lines. Where a block team or an acute pain service does them all, find out how someone gets onto that rotation. A skill you trained hard for fades without numbers, so name the one you want to keep and ask how many you could expect in a month.
Are there residents or student nurse anesthetists here, and would I be expected to teach?
Why ask it
Trainees change the day: you may be guiding a learner's hands where you expected to use your own, and the interesting cases can go to whoever needs the numbers. Find out whether teaching is counted in the schedule or in pay, or simply added on. For someone who wants to teach, the follow-up is how a new hire gets a regular student or a faculty title.
Cases and sites
What does the case mix look like over an ordinary month?
Why ask it
Ask for rough shares: orthopedics, general surgery, endoscopy, eyes, and whatever else fills the board. If most rooms are short outpatient cases and you trained for big ones, or the other way around, it is better said aloud today than discovered in week three. A group that pulls up last month's schedule to answer is one that knows its own work.
How many locations does the group staff, and how would my weeks be divided among them?
Why ask it
A posting that names one hospital can turn out to include two surgery centers and an office across town. Find out whether you would know your site the evening before, whether anyone moves between buildings in the middle of a day, and whether the smaller sites have a second anesthesia clinician in the building.
How much of the work happens outside the operating rooms: endoscopy, interventional radiology, the cath lab, MRI?
Why ask it
These rooms are often far from the main suite, laid out for someone else's equipment, and staffed by people who do not work with anesthesia every day. A reassuring answer names who comes when you call for help there and how long it takes. The farthest one is worth walking to during the tour.
Is there a preoperative clinic, and who decides on the morning that a patient is not ready for surgery?
Why ask it
A clinic or a phone screen run by anesthesia means fewer surprises in the holding area at seven. Where the surgeons' offices do all the workup, ask how often a patient arrives with something nobody caught, and what happens to the schedule when one does. The reply also previews how much weight an anesthesia opinion carries here.
Is everyone expected to cover obstetrics, and how is labor and delivery staffed overnight?
Why ask it
Find out whether the person covering the labor floor is dedicated to it or is also the one on call for the operating rooms. Then ask the plain version: what happens when an urgent cesarean is called while that person is busy elsewhere. A group with a rehearsed answer has had the conversation; a long pause tells you it may not have.
Does the group do cardiac cases, and who is on that team?
Why ask it
If you did a cardiac fellowship, ask how many hearts a month you would do and who reads the echo, because the skill needs volume to keep. If you did not, check whether 'helping out now and then' is expected, and say honestly where your comfort ends. Separate cardiac call is worth asking about either way, since it changes everyone's rotation.
How young are the youngest patients you take, and who does those cases?
Why ask it
A written age or weight cutoff, and a short list of people who do most of the children, is the answer of a group that has thought about it. 'Whoever is on does whatever comes' deserves a follow-up about how many small children come through in a month. Say what your own lower limit is and see how it is received.
What is the hospital's trauma designation, and what tends to arrive at night?
Why ask it
The label matters less than last month's nights, so ask the person who took call most recently. Find out which surgical services come in after hours, how quickly blood and a second pair of hands appear, and whether the on-call anesthesia clinician is ever the only one in the building.
Does anesthesia also cover the intensive care unit, airway calls on the floors or the code team?
Why ask it
Duties outside the operating rooms rarely make it into a job posting. They matter most on call, when the one person covering emergencies may also be the one summoned to a floor. The two things to pin down are how often it happened last month and who watches your room when you go.
What help and equipment would I have at each site: anesthesia techs, video laryngoscopes, ultrasound, a difficult airway cart?
Why ask it
The main hospital is usually well stocked, so aim this at the smallest place you would work. Techs who turn rooms over and fetch what you need can be the difference between a calm day and a rushed one. On the tour, ask to see a cart opened; it tells you more than an assurance does.
Call and hours
How many calls a month would I take, and are they in-house or from home?
Why ask it
Get the count by type, since first call, backup call, obstetric call and cardiac call can each have their own rotation. For home call, ask how quickly you must be at the bedside, because that number decides where you can live. Then ask whether the count is the same for someone five years in.
On the last few call nights, how many hours did the person on call actually work?
Why ask it
Put this to whoever took call last week, not to the person selling the job. A night with one appendectomy and six hours of sleep and a night of back-to-back cases carry the same name on the schedule. If nobody tracks it, the answers of two or three people will still give you the range.
What happens the day after call: am I off, and is that written into the schedule?
Why ask it
'Usually' is the word to listen for. A post-call day that is protected on paper survives a short-staffed month; one that depends on the board looking light does not. Ask how many times last month someone worked the morning after being up all night.
When rooms run late, who stays and how is that decided?
Why ask it
A numbered late list that rotates is the fair version, and people can plan a dinner around it. 'Whoever has the room finishes it' ties your evenings to the slowest surgeon on the board. Ask what time the last scheduled room really ended on a few days last week.
Who gives breaks and lunch relief, and what happens on a day when nobody is free to?
Why ask it
A relief person on the schedule, or a supervising physician who gives the breaks personally, is the arrangement that survives a busy board. 'We fit it in between cases' can mean no break at all when the cases are long. Someone in your own role can tell you how many days last week they went without one.
What time does a normal day start and end, and what shift lengths are on offer?
Why ask it
Some groups run eights, tens, twelves and twenty-fours side by side, and who gets which is often a matter of seniority. Ask what time you would need to be in the building for a first case, not what time the case starts. If one shift length is the reason you are interested, get it named in the offer.
How many weekends a year would I work, and how was last year's holiday schedule divided?
Why ask it
Last year's real calendar is better evidence than a description of the system. Look at who worked the big winter holidays and whether the newest hires appear more often than chance would explain. If the rule is that juniors take more for the first few years, ask when it stops.
How many weeks off come with the job, and how are vacation weeks chosen?
Why ask it
The number means little if the weeks you want are gone before your turn in the picking order comes around. Ask how the draft works, whether school holidays are rationed, and whether anyone was refused leave last year for lack of coverage. In some groups a partner's time off is unpaid, so check which kind of week you are being quoted.
When the schedule is short, is extra work voluntary or assigned?
Why ask it
Volunteers at a premium rate suggest a group that is busy. Mandatory extra shifts, or a phone call on a day off with an expectation behind it, suggest one that is understaffed. Ask how many extra shifts the average person picked up last quarter and whether anyone has said no without it being held against them.
Do physicians, CRNAs and AAs share one call rotation, or does each have its own?
Why ask it
Separate rotations can leave one profession carrying most of the nights and weekends while another goes home at three. Whichever side of that you would be on, it shapes how the two talk about each other, so hear it from someone in each role.
Group and hospital
When anesthesia wants to delay or cancel a case and the surgeon does not, who decides?
Why ask it
Press for a real instance, the most recent one they can remember. You want to hear that the clinician in the room made the decision and the chief stood behind it the next morning. 'We try to keep the surgeons happy', with no story attached, suggests who wins those arguments.
Who holds the anesthesia contract with the hospital, and when does it come up for renewal?
Why ask it
In a contracted group, your job can last only as long as that agreement does, whatever your own contract says. If renewal falls inside your first year or two, ask how the talks are going and how much notice either side must give to walk away. Where the hospital employs the department directly, the question becomes whether it has ever looked at contracting the service out.
Does the hospital support the group financially, and how settled is that arrangement?
Why ask it
Where a group depends on a payment from the hospital to make its numbers, the salary you are offered rests on a negotiation you will not be part of. Nobody owes a candidate the figures, but the direction is fair to ask about: rising, flat or under pressure. Unease in the reply is worth weighing against a generous offer.
Who owns the group: its partners, the hospital, a national company or outside investors?
Why ask it
Ownership decides who sets pay, who writes the schedule and who can change either. Ask directly whether a sale or merger has come up in the past year. If the group changed hands recently, the people who were already there can tell you what was different six months later.
Does anesthesia have a say in how the operating rooms are run: block time, add-on cases, first-case starts?
Why ask it
A group with a seat on the committee that governs the schedule can push back when cases are stacked past what the staffing allows. Without one, anesthesia is told the plan and blamed for the delays. Ask who the medical director of the operating rooms is and which department they come from.
How do the physicians, CRNAs and AAs here work together, and who speaks for each when the group makes decisions?
Why ask it
In a care team this relationship is the weather you work in every day. Put the question to someone from each profession and compare the tone as much as the content. Respectful disagreement is normal; one side that only mentions the other in complaints is a warning.
How many people have left in the past two years, and where did they go?
Why ask it
Sort the departures by role, because losing four CRNAs in a year and no physicians, or the reverse, points at how one profession is treated. Then look at where they went: several now working at the hospital down the road says more than a retirement does. See whether the group will put you in touch with one of them.
After a bad outcome or a near miss, what happens next for the clinician involved?
Why ask it
A healthy answer describes a review aimed at the system, a colleague who takes over your room for an hour, and someone who checks in a week later. Blame, silence, or a story about a person who quietly left afterwards are the ones to note.
Pay and contract
Would I be employed or contracted, and by whom exactly?
Why ask it
The name on the contract may be the group, the hospital or a staffing company, and each answers to someone different. A contractor's hourly rate cannot be compared directly with a salary, because benefits, insurance and taxes sit on different sides of the line. Have an accountant who works with clinicians run both versions before you rank offers.
How is pay built: salary, hourly, per shift or by units, and what did someone in this role take home last year?
Why ask it
The structure tells you what the group rewards, whether that is hours, cases or simply showing up. The second half matters more, since a formula and a real year's income are not always close. If they will not share a figure, ask a recent hire whether their first year matched what they were told.
How are call, late hours and extra shifts paid?
Why ask it
Answers run from a stipend per night, to an hourly rate after a set time, to nothing because it is 'in the salary'. For the last one, divide the salary by the hours you now know about and see what is left. Ask at what minute overtime starts and whether it is rounded up or down.
Is there a partnership track, how long is it, and has anyone on it been turned down?
Why ask it
Get the years, the vote needed and the criteria in writing, along with how many people who started the track in the last five years finished it. A track that keeps getting longer, or one that several people left just before the end, is a pattern to ask about by name. Where CRNAs or AAs cannot become owners, ask what progression there is in its place.
What does the buy-in cost, and what would my share be worth if I left or the group were sold?
Why ask it
A buy-in can be a sum of money, a period of reduced pay, or both. The exit matters as much as the entry: ask how a departing partner is paid out and what the newest partners would receive in a sale compared with the oldest. Bring these terms to a lawyer before signing, not after.
Would I be signing a non-compete, and does it still apply if the group loses the hospital?
Why ask it
A group with many sites can draw a wide circle, so find out which locations the radius is counted from and how many months it runs. The second half is particular to anesthesia: when a hospital changes groups, the incoming one often wants the people already there, and the clause can stand in the way. Whether such terms can be enforced varies by place, so take the wording to a contract lawyer who knows local practice.
Who pays for malpractice coverage, and who pays for the tail if I leave?
Why ask it
Find out the type of policy, its limits, and whether coverage continues for claims made after your last day. Where a tail has to be bought the bill can be large, and the contract decides whose it is. Ask what happened the last time someone left.
How much notice must either side give to end the contract, and can my site, shift or call be changed without my agreement?
Why ask it
A long notice period on your side and a short one on theirs is worth raising before you sign. The second half catches the clause that lets the employer move you to a different hospital or add call at its discretion. If the day shift at one site is the job you are accepting, ask for it to be written down.
What strings come with the sign-on bonus, relocation money or any retention payment?
Why ask it
Large bonuses usually carry a commitment of some years and a repayment schedule if you go early. Ask whether you would still owe the money if they ended the contract, or if the group lost the hospital and your job with it. An unusually big bonus can also be a clue about how hard the seat has been to fill.
What do the benefits cover: retirement contributions, health insurance, education money and days, licenses and dues?
Why ask it
Put a value on each line, because two offers with the same salary can sit far apart once these are counted. Check when health coverage starts, whether education days come out of vacation, and how long before retirement contributions are fully yours. Most of this can be settled by email, so keep it short in the room.
Before you leave
What does the first month look like, and when would I first take call on my own?
Why ask it
A new graduate should hear about lighter rooms to begin with, a call or two alongside someone, and a named person to phone at night. 'You will be fine, you start Monday' is a compliment and a warning in one. Experienced hires can ask the narrower version: how long before I have worked at every site.
Which cases would you want me to do alongside someone before I do them alone here?
Why ask it
It invites the group to name a gap without it sounding like a rejection, and it shows you know your own limits. A sensible reply picks one or two things, perhaps children, hearts or blocks, and says who would stand with you. If the answer is that you will do everything from day one, think about whether you want that.
Could I spend a few hours in the operating rooms, and talk to someone in my role without a manager nearby?
Why ask it
A morning in scrubs shows you how people speak to each other at the board, which no interview answer can. The telling part is whether you are allowed to pick who you talk to. If only the chief and the recruiter are made available, ask why.
What do people here complain about in the break room?
Why ask it
Asked with a smile, this gets a truer answer than 'what are the challenges'. Late rooms, one difficult surgeon or the parking are ordinary. Pay that changed without warning, or leadership nobody trusts, are not, and the pause before the answer often tells you which kind it is.
You joined fairly recently: has the job turned out to be what you were told at your interview?
Why ask it
Save it for the newest hire in your own role, away from the chief. Listen for where the surprise was, whether in the hours, the sites or the pay, because that is the part of your own offer to check twice. A plain 'yes', with a detail or two behind it, is about the best reference a group can have.
May I have the full contract and last month's real schedule to read before I answer?
Why ask it
The contract is where the call obligation, the non-compete and the notice terms actually live, and the schedule lets you check what you were told today against what happened. Reluctance to hand over either one before a deadline is your cue to slow down.
What happens after today, and how long would I have to decide once an offer is made?
Why ask it
A partner vote, a second visit and hospital credentialing can each add time, so ask which of them stand between today and a start date. A deadline of a few days on a contract you have not yet read is pressure, and it is reasonable to ask for longer. Leave with the name of the person to send follow-up questions to.
How to use these questions on an anesthesia interview day
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before the visit
Clear the basics by phone first
The posting, the recruiter and the group's own site usually give the sites, the outline of the practice model and a pay range. Settle those before you travel, so the day itself goes on the things only the people there know: last month's call nights, how late rooms are handled, how the professions get along.
Sort the questions by who can answer them
The chief or the group's president knows the hospital contract, the ownership and the partnership track. Whoever writes the schedule knows call, the late list and how vacation is picked. Someone in your own role, hired in the last couple of years, knows whether any of it is true. Put a role next to each question before you arrive.
Decide what would end your interest
Pick the two or three answers that would rule the job out: a ratio you would not work under, a call count, covering obstetrics alone at night, a site an hour from home. A friendly group and a good dinner make everything sound workable. Write those limits down before you travel, while nobody is being charming at you.
If this is your first job after training
You have less to compare the answers with, so lean on the questions about the first month, who you can phone at night and which cases you would do with someone first. Show the call schedule and the contract to an attending or preceptor you trust. They will spot what is unusual faster than you can.
On the day
Begin with the model and work outward
The model and staffing questions come first because they change what every later answer means. Five calls a month is one job when a colleague is in the building with you and another when you are the only anesthesia clinician there. Pay and contract terms sit best late in the day or after the visit, once both sides are interested.
Ask about last month, not the policy
Almost every question here has a policy answer and a real one. 'Is the post-call day off?' gets the policy. 'How many times last month did someone work post-call?' gets what happened. Asking to see an actual schedule settles call, weekends and late rooms in one look.
Put the same question to two professions
In a care team, ask a physician and a CRNA or an AA the same thing about ratios, call and who makes the plan. Answers that match mean the model runs as described. Where they differ, the gap between them is what you would be working in.
Use the tour as evidence
Ask to see the farthest place anesthesia is given, not only the newest operating room. Watch the board for a few minutes, notice whether techs are about, and listen to how people speak to each other at the desk. Ten minutes of watching checks an hour of answers.
Keep the dinner for the human questions
A meal the night before is still part of the interview, but it is the right place for why people stay, where they live and what gets complained about. Contract clauses and pay formulas belong in the office the next day, with someone who can answer them exactly.
Reading the answers
Numbers beat adjectives
'Call is very reasonable' tells you how the speaker feels. 'Five a month, in-house, off the next day' tells you about the job. When you get an adjective, ask once for the number behind it, and note whether it comes easily.
Notice what nobody can answer
If the chief cannot say when the hospital contract renews, or the scheduler cannot explain the late list, either the thing is not being managed or you are not being told. Both are worth knowing. Ask who would know, and follow up by email after the visit.
Judge against your own stage, not an ideal
There is no correct practice model or call burden. A busy job with sick patients and frequent call can be right for someone building experience and wrong for the same person ten years on. Read each answer against what you want from the next few years.
Get the deciding answers in writing
Whatever made you say yes, a site, a shift length, a call count, a partnership timeline, should appear in the contract or in a letter attached to it. A spoken promise leaves when the person who made it does. Rules on restrictive covenants, malpractice tails and termination differ by state and country, so have a lawyer who handles clinician contracts where the job is read the agreement.
Mistakes to avoid
Arguing the model instead of asking about it
Who should supervise whom is a live argument in the specialty, and an interview is not the place to settle it. A question that sounds like a challenge makes people careful. Ask how it works here and what people would change, then decide privately whether it suits you.
Taking the flagship site for the whole job
Interviews are usually held at the largest and best-equipped hospital. If half your weeks would be at a surgery center or an endoscopy suite, the answers about staffing, equipment and backup have to be asked again for that place.
Meeting only the people chosen for you
The itinerary is built by the group, and it will feature its most satisfied members. Ask to speak with one person you pick yourself, ideally in your own role, and to phone someone who has left.
Comparing offers by salary alone
Two figures mean nothing side by side until you know the hours behind each. Set call nights, late rooms, weekends, weeks off and the value of benefits against the pay before ranking one above another. The larger number is sometimes the lower rate.