Anesthesiologist

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An anesthesiologist (American English), or anaesthetist (British English), is a medical doctor trained to administer anesthesia. In the U.S., an anesthetist is usually a nurse or technician trained to administer anaesthesia (See nurse anesthetist).

Training varies depending on the country. In Australia, for example, training is overseen by the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists. In England, training is overseen by the Royal College of Anaesthetists.

In the United States, anesthesiologists are medical doctors (MD) or osteopathic physicians (DO). Anesthesiologists complete a four year undergraduate program, four years of medical school training, a one year internship, and three years of postgraduate training in the form of an anesthesiology residency. The three year residency training encompasses the full scope of perioperative medicine, including pre-operative medical evaluation, intraoperative life support and pain control, post-operative recovery, ICU medicine, and chronic and acute pain management. Anesthesiologists can choose to sub-specialize in areas such as cardiac or obstetric anaesthesia, pain management, or intensive care unit medicine.

Anaesthetists in the United Kingdom are doctors with five years undergraduate program. They usually enter anaesthetics from other specialties, such as medicine or accident and emergency. Specialist training then takes at least seven years. It is overseen by the Royal College of Anaesthetists.

[edit] Noted anesthesiologists

• Virginia Apgar
• August Bier
• Henry Edmund Gaskin Boyle
• Thomas Cecil Gray
• Stuart Hameroff
• Tom Hornbein
• Marcel Junod
• William T.G. Morton
• Gabriel G. Nahas
• Gordon Ostlere
• Philip H. Sechze

[edit] References

• Gold MS, Byars JA, Frost-Pineda K (2004). "Occupational exposure and addictions for physicians: case studies and theoretical implications". Psychiatric Clinics of North America 27 (4): 745-53. PMID 15550291