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What
is an Anesthesiologist?
Anesthesiologists are highly skilled medical doctors (M.D.
or D.O.) who specialize in the field of Anesthesiology.
As physicians
with significantly longer and more extensive training than
other classifications of anesthesia practitioners, anesthesiologists
are the most qualified to make anesthesia related perioperative
medical decisions. Anesthesiologists are primarily responsible
for the safety and well-being of patients before, during and
after surgery. This may include placing them in the state
of controlled unconsciousness called “general anesthesia”,
the provision of “regional anesthetics” where
only a portion of the body is made numb, or administering
sedation when indicated for the relief of pain or anxiety.
These anesthetics provide continuous pain relief and sustain
patients’ critical life functions as they are affected
throughout surgical, obstetrical or other medical procedures.
An Anesthesiologist is the director of the Anesthesia Care
Team.
The role
of the anesthesiologist extends beyond the operating room.
The anesthesiologist is responsible for the preoperative assessment
of the patient, an evaluation process that carefully considers
both the patient’s current state of health and the planned
surgical procedure that allows anesthesiologists to make judgments
about the safest anesthesia plan for each individual patient.
The anesthesiologist is also responsible for the well being
of the patient postoperatively while the patient emerges from
the effects of anesthesia. They are often involved in the
management of acute postoperative pain, as well as chronic
and cancer pain; in cardiac and respiratory resuscitation;
in blood transfusion therapies; and in respiratory therapy.
Anesthesiologists
in the United States complete a four year undergraduate college
degree that includes satisfying pre-med requirements. Like
other medical doctors, anesthesiologists must follow undergraduate
education with four years of medical school. After medical
school, a physician specializing in anesthesiology completes
a four-year anesthesiology residency program.
Following
completion of a residency program, residents are eligible
to sit for the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) exam.
Almost 90 percent of anesthesiologists are board certified.
Although
anesthesiologists complete a minimum of eight years of medical
training after college, following residency, many anesthesiologists
also complete an additional fellowship year of specialty training
in specific areas such as pain management, cardiac anesthesia,
pediatric anesthesia, neuroanesthesia, obstetric anesthesia
or critical care medicine.
Anesthesiologists
may also seek certification in one of the following subspecialties,
which require additional training and examinations: Critical
Care Medicine, Hospice and Palliative Medicine, Pain Medicine.
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