Amy C. Benedikt, M.D. Pediatric Anesthesiologist Tejas Anesthesia, San Antonio, TX
Q: What is your name?
A: Amy Castelbaum Benedikt, M.D.
Q: What is your profession
A: Pediatric Anesthesiologist.
Q: Where do you currently work?
A: I am a partner in a private
practice group, Tejas Anesthesia, located in San Antonio, Texas.
Q: Where did you attend medical school? Residency? Fellowship?
A: I attended medical school at Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston‐Salem, North Carolina. My internship year in Pediatrics was at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington D.C. I completed two years of my Anesthesia residency at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and transferred to The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio for the last year of my Anesthesia residency. I then completed a one‐year fellowship in Pediatric Anesthesia at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
Q: How long have you practiced?
A: Approximately 20 years.
Q: Why did you decide to do a subspecialty in Anesthesia?
A: I always planned to care for children. Initially, I considered various Pediatric subspecialties and began my residency in Pediatrics. During my internship, I rotated through the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at Children’s National Medical Center and considered becoming a Pediatric Critical Care Specialist. During this rotation, I had the pleasure of working with the Pediatric Anesthesia Fellows who were staffing the PICU, which inspired me to consider Anesthesia. I had been interested in Anesthesia as a medical student but decided to apply for Pediatric residencies, as I had always planned. During my internship, I realized becoming a Pediatric Anesthesiologist would combine my medical interests.
Q: What drove you to pursue Pediatric Anesthesia training?
A: I always had a love for working with children and participating in their medical care. I switched to Anesthesia because I enjoyed the critical care aspect, the types of decision‐making, and the physiology issues that are involved in the anesthetic care of a child. The vast range of patient pathology and clinical problem‐solving makes this an exciting and rewarding subspecialty.
Q: What does you average workday entail?
A: My average workday varies. I may work one day with a Pediatric Otolaryngologist and provide anesthesia for 12 patients, with procedures ranging from simple ear tubes to tonsillectomies and adenoidectomies. The following day, I may take care of a child having a craniotomy for removal of a brain tumor.
Q: Do you have outpatient opportunities in your line of work?
A: Yes. In my current practice, the majority of my cases are outpatient procedures.
Q: How would you describe your work/life balance, being a Pediatric Anesthesiologist?
A: As a Pediatric Anesthesiologist, I feel it is quite possible to have a positive work/life balance and that I have achieved this. I truly enjoy what I do, but I also feel like I am the wife and mother that I want to be. I feel grateful for the opportunity to provide anesthetic care to children in the operating room and to also have a fulfilling family life.
Q: What is your scope of practice like?
A: The Pediatric Anesthesia Division of my private practice anesthesia group cares for children ranging in age from premature infants to approximately 18 years of age. We cover all types of cases from open‐ heart surgery to routine outpatient cases.
Q: What is the least favorite aspect about your work?
A: My least favorite career obligation is to work through the night, which does not occur very often.
Q: What is the favorite aspect about your work?
A: The feeling that I have made a positive difference in a child’s life.
Q: If you could give one piece of advice to residents aspiring to become Pediatric Anesthesiologists, what would it be?
A: A fellowship is critical to providing the best possible pediatric anesthesia care to your patients.
Posted winter 2016
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