Anesthesiologist Assistant

Types of Degrees Anesthesiologist Assistant Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many anesthesiologist assistant graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Associate Degree	81
Undergraduate Certificate	1

What Anesthesiologist Assistant Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to anesthesiologist assistant were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Anesthesiologist Assistant Majors

Anesthesiologist Assistant majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

Skills for Anesthesiologist Assistant Majors

When studying anesthesiologist assistant, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Abilities for Anesthesiologist Assistant Majors

As a anesthesiologist assistant major, you will find yourself needing the following abilities:

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).

What Can You Do With a Anesthesiologist Assistant Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with anesthesiologist assistant:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Medical Assistants	29.0%	$33,610

Who Is Getting an Associate’s Degree in Anesthesiologist Assistant?

This major is dominated by women with about 80% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of anesthesiologist assistant majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	7
Black or African American	24
Hispanic or Latino	12
White	31
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	7

How Much Do Anesthesiologist Assistant Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Anesthesiologist Assistant majors often go into careers where salaries can range from $34,540 to $108,430 (25th to 75th percentile). This range includes all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Anesthesiologist Assistant

Some degrees associated with anesthesiologist assistant may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

Find out what the typical degree level is for anesthesiologist assistant careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	15.0%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	47.3%
Some College Courses	4.3%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	12.8%
Master’s Degree	16.3%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	0.4%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	5.7%

Online Anesthesiologist Assistant Programs

In 2020-2021, 24 schools offered a anesthesiologist assistant program of some type. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	3	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	14	0
Bachelor’s Degree	0	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	10	0
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Anesthesiologist Assistant Worth It?

The median salary for a anesthesiologist assistant grad is $34,540 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

Trades Related to Anesthesiologist Assistant

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to anesthesiologist assistant.

Major	Number of Grads
Medical/Clinical Assistant	56,439
Physical Therapy Assistant	7,420
Pharmacy Technician/Assistant	7,393
Occupational Therapist Assistant	4,848
Other Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services	3,406
Emergency Care Attendant (EMT Ambulance)	3,031
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Assistant	709
Respiratory Therapy Technician/Assistant	365
Speech-Language Pathology Assistant	189
Radiologist Assistant	106
Lactation Consultant	42

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.