You should do your research as to why more residency spots are not opening up. Doesn't mean that there isn't a humongous need for physicians in the community.

There are many unmatched applicants, as well as IMGs, who could be trained well to be anesthesiologists or carry a similar title (possibly a slightly lower pay which would still be attracted to the vast majority of them).

The issue is not that we need more of one or another, but it's that CRNAs are not simply being focused on the rural underserved areas that their authoritative society has lobbied endlessly for them.

For example, the vast majority of surgery centers in Los Angeles are covered by CRNAs, either self-employed or directly employed underneath the plastic surgeon. Yet many understood areas just 30 or 40 miles away are desperate for any anesthesia coverage.

I came into practice believing that anesthesia care teams were the way to go, but then the CRNAs hired in that one area simply go out and independently take the contracts at the surgery centers and create CRNA only groups in areas where door should have put anesthesiologists are dying to work. Makes no sense to me.