Education and the development of anaesthesia

Abstract

Summary A discussion has been presented of various aspects of the interaction between education in anaesthesiology and the development of anaesthesia as a clinical practice. The role of various organizations of anaesthetists in the UK, USA, and in Europe were considered and reviewed in some detail. The comparable roles of certification or approving of specialist competences in anaesthesia were described as a matter relating to the individual anaesthetist and also, most importantly, to the discharge of accountability and public responsibility for the welfare of patients. The strategies employed by approving or controlling agencies, e.g. the American Board of Anesthesiology and the Royal College of Anaesthetists, were described in some detail. The essential elements are the approval and maintenance of high-quality environments for learning, the testing by examination and the monitoring of public accountability. The role of academically orientated organizations in promoting the relationship of education and the development of anaesthesia were also briefly considered. The matter of education in anaesthetic practices and concepts for undergraduate medical students as a means of providing tools in the hands of family practitioners or primary care physicians by academic anaesthetists was emphasized as an important goal for the future. The interdependence of education and development of anaesthesia is quite clear also in that context. Finally, it is proposed that there be considered an interlocking relationship in which better education leads to better development of anaesthesia and the improved practices and development of anaesthesia require, in turn, subsequent education for appropriate care of patients and the endless search for improvement in knowledge.