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Who are anaesthetists?

Anaesthetists are specialist doctors who are trained to look after you before, during and after your surgery or procedure. This includes reviewing your health before your surgery or procedure and working with you to decide on the best type of anaesthetic for you.

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    Who are anaesthetists?

    Anaesthetists in New Zealand are among the most highly trained in the world. Anaesthetists are highly trained to:

    • Administer and manage different types of anaesthetic to make a patient unconscious and pain-free during an operation or procedure.
    • Manage a wide knowledge of general medical conditions.
    • Work in intensive care, trauma management, and resuscitation.
    • Treat pain.

    Anaesthetists use a complex range of medications and highly technical equipment to monitor you throughout your operation. The anaesthetist is also responsible for pain management after surgery and assessing your medical condition before surgery to ensure you are fit for surgery.

    Where might you see an anaesthetist?

    Anaesthetists’ skills are widely used in caring for patients. You might see them in the:

    • operating theatre
    • intensive care unit
    • accident and emergency department
    • obstetric unit
    • dentists
    • psychiatry unit.

    Anaesthetists’ skills are also used in caring for patients in radiology or radiotherapy procedures, pain relief after surgery and acute (sudden or urgent) or chronic pain management.

    They are also involved in teaching, and training undergraduate medical students, and other healthcare workers including nurses, paramedics, and other postgraduate professionals.

    Anaesthetists are skilled in all aspects of stabilising very unwell patients and are among the most expert doctors at resuscitation. In rural hospitals, they might be called to an emergency. At larger hospitals, they might be called to emergencies requiring advanced airway support or urgent surgery. Training in anaesthesia is generally necessary for all doctors working in Retrieval Medicine (Flying Doctors), Intensive Care or Emergency Medicine.

    Who are trainee anaesthetists?

    You might meet a trainee anaesthetist in a public hospital.

    A doctor is known as a trainee anaesthetist while they are completing the five-year anaesthesia training programme. In Aotearoa New Zealand’s hospital system, they will usually be called an Anaesthetic Senior House Officer (SHO) for the first year, and then an Anaesthetic Registrar until fully qualified. Sometimes a trainee may have the title of ‘Fellow’ during their final year of training while they’re doing more training in a specific area of anaesthesia. Once they have completed all of their training they become a Specialist Anaesthetist.

    Anaesthetic Registrars have already completed three or more years working as a doctor. They work under the direct supervision of a fully qualified consultant anaesthetist until they achieve a certain level of knowledge and skills. As they become more experienced and assessed as being capable, they complete more tasks with less supervision, but a senior anaesthetist is always close for back-up.

    Who are the assistants to the anaesthetist?

    An anaesthetist holding an oxygen mask over a patient lying on an operating table. Standing beside an assitant to the anaesthetist who is infront of an anaesthesia machine.You might also meet trained assistants to the anaesthetist in operating rooms or other places where an anaesthetic is given. They might be an anaesthetic technician or registered nurse assistant to the anaesthetist. Assistants to the anaesthetist work in the operating room with the anaesthetist. They help to prepare and maintain equipment for an anaesthetic and work with the anaesthetist in providing safe anaesthesia.

    You can find out more about anaesthetic technicians on the New Zealand Anaesthetic Technicians’ Society website.

    This information is meant as a general guide only. It does not replace individual medical advice given by your healthcare providers. You should always ask your healthcare team If there is anything you’re unsure about. The NZSA does it utmost to keep this information up to date and content is subject to change. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future topics please get in touch.