Careers
H
ow do I become an anaesthetist or critical care doctor and what does training involve? Those who train in anaesthetics complete a medical degree - not always recognised due to historic practices and TV programmes! - and the Foundation Programme, followed by choosing either the Core Anaesthesia or Acute Care Common Stem (ACCS) training programmes. ACCS includes an extra year of training to allow coverage of all the acute specialties and following completion, doctors will continue training within their chosen specialty: anaesthetics, emergency medicine, intensive care medicine (ICM) or even any specialty within the Joint Royal College of Physicians Training Board. There are only a few specialties which a trainee would not be able to pursue at a higher level after completing the three years of ACCS. Overall, completion of anaesthetics training generally takes between seven and eight years following the Foundation Programme. Anaesthetics is the largest specialty in the hospital, with anaesthetists working in a variety of locations besides operating theatres. As an example, there are over 70 consultant anaesthetists and over 40 trainees in UCLH, some being joint appointments in ICM or pain medicine. Except general practice, anaesthetics is the most common specialty in the UK with 11832 doctors on the GMC specialist register.
“Ten, nine, eight, seven…”, When people count down from ten, they may think of events such as welcoming the New Year or building up to the launch of a space shuttle. However, another situation that comes to mind is when anaesthetists ask patients to count down as anaesthetics take effect. Hopefully, you will not fall asleep whilst reading this Careers, focusing on anaesthetics and critical care medicine! Words by Izabella Smolicz, Director of Medical Journalism
Anaesthetists may specialise in particular areas when at an advanced level including cardiothoracic anaesthesia, neuroanaesthesia or paediatric anaesthesia. However, all anaesthetist trainees undertake time in these subspecialties during training, in addition to others such as obstetrics. There is an increasing focus on perioperative medicine and specific units have been integrated into the anaesthetics training programme. Other areas of special training include ICM, pain medicine and pre-hospital emergency medicine. The Royal College of Anaesthetists offers the option of Dual Certificates of Completion of Training in both anaesthetics and ICM. There are also many clinical-academics who have pursued research in addition to the clinical aspect of the specialty.
How can I find out more about anaesthetics and critical care medicine? There are opportunities throughout medical school to find out about this diverse specialty, from student selected components to electives. In addition, there are many resources out there to provide information on anaesthetics and critical care medicine, some of which are outlined below. The Royal College of Anaesthetists website provides further information on the training pathway and curriculum. www.rcoa.ac.uk www.rcoa.ac.uk/accs www.rcoa.ac.uk/perioperativemedicine www.facebook.com/ RoyalCollegeofAnaesthetists/ twitter.com/RCoANews MedSoc has a section dedicated to anaesthetics and have kindly contributed an article in this issue in Features. www.medicalsociety.org.uk/sections/ anaesthetics/ Last but not least, there are an amazing set of resources for students on the UCL Centre for Anaesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine website including a curriculum summary for UCLMS fourth year students, sixth year SSC information and many ‘How To’ guides. The main anaesthetics placement takes place during fourth year, Integrated Clinical Care Module B, and is an optimal opportunity to practise clinical skills such as inserting cannulas and setting up an intravenous fluid bag and drip. There are also two modules being launched for UCL intercalated BSc students in the next academic year providing an insight into anaesthesia and critical care. See the website and YouTube channel for ‘UCL Centre for Anaesthesia’ for more information: www.ucl.ac.uk/anaesthesia/ StudentsandTrainees/students www.youtube.com/user/ Centreforanaesthesia
45
Vol.III No.III