How does a medical doctor become an anesthesiologist?
The anesthesiologist receives three years of specialized training after medical school and a one year internship.

What does “Board Certified” in Anesthesiology mean?
In addition to a successful completion of medical school, an internship, and a three year residency, the doctor must pass a series of rigorous examinations given by a national organization called the American Board of Anesthesiology in order to say they are board certified in Anesthesiology. Physicians can also get certified in subspecialties such as cardiac anesthesia, critical care, or pain management.

What does CRNA mean?
Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist

How does someone become a CRNA or nurse anesthetist?
A CRNA is a registered nurse (RN) who has additional training (in the form of a two year Master’s degree) specifically in administering anesthesia.

Anesthesiology is the medical specialty concerned with the pharmacology and physiology of administering anesthesia, including treating acute and chronic pain.

What does the anesthesiologist do?
The anesthesiologist is responsible for the general condition of the patient during the surgical operation. Their primary goal is to see the patient through the surgery safely and comfortably. They make sure the patient stay asleep throughout the operation, keeps the airway open, and insures that the patient is getting enough oxygen (during general anesthesia). The anesthesiologist watches breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, and is responsible for relieving pain during and right after the surgery. They frequently advise the surgeon and reports on the patient’s condition throughout the surgery.

Anesthesiologist can specialize (and get extra certification) in Pain Management. In this specialty, their concerns are with the relief of acute or chronic pain.

General vs. Local Anesthesia:
During general anesthesia, you are asleep or unconscious.
With local anesthesia, a specific area of your body is numbed, without putting you to sleep. The purpose of both is to decrease or eliminate the feeling of pain

Anesthesia vs. Analgesia:
An analgesic is a drug given to relieve pain. The drug could be given as a solution through an iv, in pill form taken orally, or a patch, cream or solution to be absorbed through the skin.
An anesthetic is a drug given to put you to sleep. It can be a combination of drugs that produce:

• Sleep (narcosis)
• Pain relief (analgesia)
• Amnesia (so the patient doesn’t remember the surgery)
• Muscle-relaxant (so the patient doesn’t twitch or the muscle tense up during the surgery)

Types of anesthetics:

• Inhalational Anesthesia: a vaporized drug is breathed through a mask or through a tube inserted in your throat or nose). Examples: nitrous oxide, enflurane, desflurane, sevoflurane.
• Intravenous Anesthesia: the drug is given as a solution through an iv (injected into the blood circulation), usually a narcotic-type drug. Examples: fentanyls, pentothal, propofol.
• Local / Regional Anesthesia: to block the nerve impulses and numb a specific area of the body. Examples: lidocaine, procaine. Subsets of this include topical, intrathecal, epidural, spinal anesthesia.
• Analgesics: drugs given to relieve pain during or post-surgery. In large doses, can be used to maintain anesthesia during surgery. Examples: opioids (morphine, fentanyls).

You should have an empty stomach before getting general anesthesia. Tell your anesthesiologist when you last ate. The reason this is important is that there is an increased tendency of vomiting with some of the anesthetic drugs.

Tell your anesthesiologist if you or a family member has had a previous bad reaction to an anesthetic or had difficulties with intubation. The doctor can try a different drug or drug combination for a better outcome.

Give your anesthesiologist an accurate and complete medical history. Medical conditions or illnesses can affect how anesthetics work. This includes all drugs you are taking or have taken in the previous few weeks. There can be significant, unpredictable, and sometimes dangerous interactions between anesthetics and other drugs. This includes not only prescription drugs, but any recreational drugs, over the counter drugs, and herbal remedies and supplements.