Misusing medical terms confuses patients
When visiting the doctor or hospital, having an outpatient procedure or looking after a loved one receiving medical care, you’re likely to meet and interact with a variety of health care professionals. It may be hard to remember their titles, the different responsibilities they have, or understand their education and training. This already confusing landscape is further compounded by the increasing number of professionals misappropriating medical titles.
I’ve witnessed this firsthand in anesthesia care where I lead the Anesthesia Care Team. This team includes anesthesiologists like me — medical doctors with 12 to 14 years of education and 12,000 to 16,000 hours of clinical training to specialize in anesthesia, pain management and critical care medicine — directing other qualified anesthesia professionals to guide patients throughout their entire surgical experience. Other members of the Anesthesia Care Team include nurse anesthetists, anesthesiologist assistants and anesthesiology resident physicians.
I greatly respect and value my nurse anesthetist colleagues and the role they play on the team, but they are not doctors and can’t replace a physician. Yet some nurse anesthetists and the national member society that represents them are fueling confusion and misleading patients by using the title “nurse anesthesiologist,” which artificially inflates their profession’s education, licensure, certification and training, and goes against commonly accepted terminology in the medical and nursing communities and the titles included under Illinois law. The American Medical Association, American Board of Medical Specialties and American Board of Anesthesiology all agree that anesthesiology is a medical specialty and professionals who refer to themselves as “anesthesiologists” must hold a license to practice medicine.
All patients deserve truth and transparency in medicine. Patients should not be confused by blatant and inaccurate terms. Instead, let’s focus on maintaining the Anesthesia Care Team’s commitment to our patients, their safety and delivering the highest-quality anesthesia care.
Charles Kim, President
Illinois Society of Anesthesiologists
Naperville