Who are anaesthetists?
Anaesthetists are generally understood as the doctors who 'put you to sleep for surgery'. Certainly this is an important part of their work, but anaesthetists, as highly trained specialists, have a scope of practice which extends beyond anaesthesia for surgery to include pain management and intensive care. Anaesthetists have a medical background to deal with many emergency situations. In these situations they provide vital care of breathing, resuscitation of the heart and lungs and advanced life support.

Anaesthetists are the single largest group of hospital doctors and the anaesthetist's skills are used throughout the hospital in patient care. The anaesthetist's major role lies in providing anaesthesia during surgery, but this role is ever widening and anaesthetists are also involved in the preparation of surgical patients, the relief of post-operative pain, in obstetric units, in cardiac arrest teams, in intensive care units, in accident and emergency departments, in chronic pain management, in acute pain teams, in dentistry, in psychiatry for patients receiving ECT, as well as the provision of sedation and anaesthesia for patients undergoing radiology and radio-therapy procedures. Anaesthetists are also widely involved in the teaching and training of undergraduate medical students, postgraduates, nurses and many other paramedics. Anaesthetists may also lead or manage the various departments in which they play a major role such as day surgery, operating theatres, recovery units, high dependency units, critical care services and resuscitation services.

Training
Anaesthetists are fully trained medical doctors and they form the largest specialty group of doctors in the National Health Service hospitals. After qualifying doctors choose between many specialities for further training. Anaesthetists are doctors who have undergone postgraduate specialist training in anaesthesia, intensive care medicine and pain medicine.

The standards of training in the UK are high and exacting. The Royal College of Anaesthetists has duties to set the standards of the training programmes and, working with the Postgraduate Deans, it ensures the quality control of training in hospitals where the training takes place. For these young doctors training starts with at least two years of core training during which they must achieve a basic level of competence, whilst supervised in their work. The degree of supervision depends on their experience. After core training the trainee has to apply for, and be accepted on a specialty registrar training programme. This lasts for five years during which the trainee gains further skills and experience. Specialty registrars are also supervised by consultants.

More details of training for anaesthetists can be found by looking at The programme of training leading to a Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT) in Anaesthetics .

Assessment and Examinations
Throughout their training anaesthetists are assessed in the workplace and they cannot progress to the next stage of training until they have satisfied their trainers and supervisors that they have reached the required standards.

During the training programme, the trainee anaesthetist takes a two part examination called the Fellowship of the Royal College of Anaesthetists (FRCA). This exam is set and supervised by the Royal College of Anaesthetists. The standards are high and trainees cannot progress to the third and fifth years of training until they have passed the relevant part of the examination. Those doctors who pass can use the letters FRCA after their name.

Only trainees who have completed the whole 7-year training programme successfully and been awarded a Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT) can have their names included in the General Medical Council’s (GMC) Specialist Register. Only specialists who have their names included on this Specialist Register can apply for consultant posts in the National Health Service in the UK.

School leavers
If you are still at school, information on how to train as a doctor and the first steps to becoming an anaesthetist, can be obtained from individual medical schools as well as the British Medical Association.

Medical students and Foundation Year trainees
If you are already a medical student or are in your Foundation Year training we recommend that you read The programme of training leading to a Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT) in Anaesthetics and the Training pages of this website. You should then arrange to meet the Clinical Tutor of the anaesthetic department of the hospital where you are training to discuss your career options.

This page last updated on 21/04/2010