Dr. DJ

The Montreal Gazette printed an entertaining article from the AP this week. (The operating room's DJ often is the anesthetist.) CNN also posted a version that anyone can access.

In many hospitals, the task of selecting OR music often falls to the anesthetist, and it's one many take seriously. Some say amassing impressive music collections is even an effective marketing tool, a way an anesthetist can ensure being picked when a surgical team is being chosen."Sometimes surgeons will say, 'I won't work with that anesthesiologist because he's a fuddy-duddy and I don't like the kind of music he plays," said Dr. Doug Reinhart, an anesthesiologist in Ogden, UT.

Once managed care companies hear about this, you can expect them to offer free iPods and iTunes gift cards to anesthesiologists whose cost and quality they like. They might even throw in a free "how to select music for surgeons" coaching session.