Patient Education

Anesthesiology is the practice of medicine dedicated to offering quality health care to patients undergoing surgery, procedures outside of the operating room and on the Labor and Delivery unit. 

Physician anesthesiologists (http://www.asahq.org/patientEducation/know.htm) complete four years of college, fours years of medical school and four years of residency training.  Some anesthesiologists continue their education for an additional year concentrating in a specific area, such as critical care or interventional pain management. 12 years of education are followed by a comprehensive written and oral exam in order to become board certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology (http://www.theaba.org/).

Responsibilities of the anesthesiologist include:

1. Operating Room:
   Anesthesiologists are responsible for the administration and/or direction of the surgical patient’s anesthetic medical care before surgery (preoperative), during surgery (intraoperative) and in the recovery unit (postoperative) (http://www.asahq.org/patientEducation.htm#scope)
2. Labor and Delivery Suite:
   Anesthesiologists provide pain relief for the mother during labor or Cesarean sections while being committed to the safety of two patients (http://www.asahq.org/patientEducation/labordelivery.pdf)
3. Pain Management:
   Anesthesiologists are devoted to the practice of safe, efficacious pain management.  Interventional pain physicians evaluate, diagnose and treat patients with chronic pain (http://www.lsipp.com)
4. Critical Care Units:
   Anesthesiologists participate in the medical and technical care of the critically ill patient (http://www.ascca.org/).
5. Medical Staff Functions:
   Anesthesiologists are active members of the medical staff of their facilities, assuming leadership roles in the development of sedation policies and pain management.

Learn more about the important work anesthesiologists do to keep you safe. These doctors provide you with the Lifeline to Modern Medicine. Visit the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ Web site specifically designed to answer patient questions at www.lifelinetomodernmedicine.com for more information. Please follow ASA Lifeline on Twitter.