An intensivist is a doctor who provides intensive care to critically ill patients in the ICU. They may also evaluate patients for ICU admission and work to sustain life and combat the condition that brought them to the ICU. Certification requirements vary by country, and success rates are higher in facilities with a high concentration of staff per patient. Intensivist salaries vary by experience and location.
An intensivist is a doctor who provides care to patients who require intensive care. Intensive care is characterized by close monitoring and support of critically ill patients. In addition to certified intensivists, the medical profession also supports nurses specializing in intensive care, as well as paramedics who have completed training in this area of medicine. All of these professionals have been fully trained in providing services to critically ill patients.
This area of medicine is known as critical care or critical care medicine, and an intensivist may also be called an intensive care specialist. Certification requirements vary by country. In the United States, people who receive training in internal medicine, general surgery, anesthesiology, or pediatrics can become certified intensivists with the right training. Emergency physicians can choose to take a critical care fellowship that allows them to become certified.
An intensivist’s work takes place in the intensive care unit (ICU) or intensive care unit (ICU) of a hospital. Intensivists may also be involved in evaluating patients to determine whether or not they are ICU candidates. Patients must have treatable conditions to be accepted into the ICU; an intensivist may believe that the patient is best served by palliative or other supportive care if there is no reasonable chance of recovery.
In the ICU, an intensivist works to keep the patient alive. This includes supporting patients’ organ systems with measures that may include dialysis to help with kidney failure, mechanical ventilation for patients who are unable to breathe on their own, and implantation of a pacemaker or pacemaker wires for patients with heart problems. The intensivist sustains life and helps the patient combat the condition that brought them to the ICU, with the goal of helping the patient recover.
The best success rates in intensive care occur in facilities with a high concentration of staff per patient, including physicians, nurses and other support staff. Critical care requires very high levels of attention and monitoring to keep patients stable and to intervene when problems develop. This includes overnight care, and intensivists may be called upon when not on call to address specific patient issues, help process an admission, or offer other forms of support.
Intensivist salaries vary, depending on years of experience and training and where the physician works. Before taking a position in this medical specialty, it may be wise to look into prevailing pay rates for physicians in the area and pay rates for physicians in comparable positions located in comparable areas.
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