Healthcare Practitioners and Technical · Holland code CSI

Anesthesiologist Assistants

Assist anesthesiologists in the administration of anesthesia for surgical and non-surgical procedures. Monitor patient status and provide patient care during surgical treatment.

Also called: Anesthesia Assistant, Anesthesia Technician (Anesthesia Tech), CAA (Certified Anesthesiologist Assistant), CAA (Certified Anesthesiology Assistant), Anesthesia Orderly, Anesthesiology Assistant, Anesthesiology Technician (Anesthesiology Tech), Cardiothoracic Anesthesia Technician (Cardiothoracic Anesthesia Tech).

O*NET 29-1071.01

At a glance

US median annual pay: $135,880; Middle half earn $120,670 to $163,980. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 5 of 5; Extensive preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034: +20% · Much faster than average; 162,700 jobs in 2024, projected 195,800. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "Physician assistants".

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Provide airway management interventions including tracheal intubation, fiber optics, or ventilary support.
Assist anesthesiologists in monitoring of patients, including electrocardiogram (EKG), direct arterial pressure, central venous pressure, arterial blood gas, hematocrit, or routine measurement of temperature, respiration, blood pressure or heart rate.
Control anesthesia levels during procedures.
Administer anesthetic, adjuvant, or accessory drugs under the direction of an anesthesiologist.
Pretest and calibrate anesthesia delivery systems and monitors.
Respond to emergency situations by providing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), basic cardiac life support (BLS), advanced cardiac life support (ACLS), or pediatric advanced life support (PALS).
Collect and document patients' pre-anesthetic health histories.
Administer blood, blood products, or supportive fluids.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Monitoring4.1 / 5
Reading Comprehension4.0 / 5
Active Listening4.0 / 5
Speaking3.8 / 5
Active Learning3.8 / 5
Critical Thinking3.6 / 5

Knowledge areas

Medicine and Dentistry5.0 / 5
Biology4.4 / 5
English Language4.1 / 5
Mathematics4.0 / 5
Chemistry3.9 / 5
Physics3.9 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic57
Investigative60
Artistic0
Social65
Enterprising15
Conventional68

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

clinical perfusion scientist · DE Fachassistent Herz-Kreislauf-Funktionsdiagnostik/Fachassistentin Herz-Kreislauf-Funktionsdiagnostik · FR perfusionniste clinique
physiotherapy assistant · DE Physiotherapieassistent/Physiotherapieassistentin · FR kinésithérapeute
doctors' surgery assistant · DE Medizinischer Fachangestellter/Medizinische Fachangestellte · FR assistant en cabinet médical/assistante en cabinet médical
paramedic in emergency responses · DE Notfallsanitäter/Notfallsanitäterin · FR technicien médical des services d’urgence/technicienne médicale des services d’urgence
anaesthetic technician · DE Anästhesietechnischer Assistent/Anästhesietechnische Assistentin · FR infirmier anesthésiste/infirmière anesthésiste
respiratory therapy technician · DE Atemtherapietechniker/Atemtherapietechnikerin · FR technicien intervention matériel assistance respiratoire/technicienne intervention matériel assistance respiratoire

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Nursing auxiliaries and assistants (6131)337,700 employed
Medical radiographers (2254)44,200 employed
Paramedics (2255)37,800 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Technicians and associate professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Technicians and associate professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€50,992
Austria	€46,986
Germany	€44,473
Netherlands	€42,448
Ireland	€41,613
Sweden	€41,155
Italy	€34,882
France	€34,816
Spain	€29,757
Portugal	€18,080
Poland	€12,108

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the middle third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +0.11. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (29-1071).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

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