Anaesthetists are specialist doctors with unique clinical knowledge and skills. They have a major role in the perioperative care of surgical patients including perioperative optimisation of high-risk patients, intraoperative care, and postoperative pain and critical care. They are often part of resuscitation and trauma teams in hospitals.
All specialist pain medicine physicians have a primary specialty - this could be anaesthetics, psychiatry, surgery, rehabilitation medicine or general practice, among others. They use a combination of sociological (behavioural), psychological and biomedical strategies to help restore balance for people living with pain.
ANZCA is responsible for the training, examination and specialist accreditation of anaesthetists and pain medicine specialists and for the standards of clinical practice in Australia and New Zealand.
The ANZCA SA/NT Trainee Committee represents fellows and trainees located in South Australia and the Northern Territory.
ANZCA delivers a number of training programs for College members and for non-members. These include:
- Diploma of Rural Generalist Anaesthesia
- Advanced diving and hyperbaric medicine
- Perioperative medicine
- CPD program and more
Anaesthesia training program
- Must have completed two years of general hospital experience after graduation from medical school
- This can include up to 12 months in anaesthesia or intensive care, but the aim is to ensure a grounding in general medicine and in disciplines other than anaesthesia
- Trainees complete at least five years of training and are supervised by a network of qualified anaesthetists at accredited hospitals throughout Australia and New Zealand.
- ANZCA have a two-stage process for trainee application and registration that can occur sequentially or concurrently as follows:
- Once you have completed 52 weeks of prevocational medical education and training (PMET), you can apply to join the training program. You don't need to have secured an anaesthesia training position in an ANZCA-accredited hospital or other training site to do this.
- once you have secured a training position, you can register with the college
Pain medicine training program
- Training in pain medicine is a post-specialisation program that requires applicants to have either completed or be training towards a primary specialist qualification.
- For trainees with an overseas primary specialist qualification, a letter or certified copy from an equivalent Australian or New Zealand specialist College attesting to the comparability of the overseas primary qualification is required to be submitted alongside your training application.
- Doctors must apply to join the training program before commencing their training position
Anaesthesia training program
- Completed two years of general hospital experience after graduating from medical school.
- This can include up to 12 months in anaesthesia or intensive care.
- ANZCA does not appoint trainees, this is done by the employer. To join the program, you must secure a training position in an accredited rotation or training site.
- There are two intakes per annum: hospital employment year/new year (applications open June/July) and mid-year (applications open March/April).
Pain medicine training program
- Training in pain medicine is a post-specialisation program that requires applicants to have either completed or be training towards a primary specialist qualification. The list of approved qualifications can be found here.
- Doctors must apply to join the training program before commencing their training position.
Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Māori workforce'. Text to include: Explore the ways ANZCA is working to encourage Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Māori doctors in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand to specialise in anaesthesia and pain medicine and to support them through their training.
If you trained as a specialist anaesthetist (anaesthesiologist) or specialist pain medicine physician overseas, ANZCA offer a number of pathways for you to practice in Australia or New Zealand.
The anaesthetists and pain medicine training programs are undertaken over five years (260 weeks) of supervised clinical placements within ANZCA-accredited training sites. Upon successfully completion of the program, doctors are awarded Fellowship of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (FANZCA).
Anaesthesia training program
- Introductory training (26 weeks including leave)
- Basic training (78 weeks including leave)
- Advanced training (104 weeks including leave)
- Provisional fellowship training (52 weeks including leave)
Pain medicine training program
- A minimum of two years (88 weeks) full-time equivalent (FTE) of approved clinical experience directly related to pain medicine, distributed over two mandatory stages.
- Each training stage comprises 44 weeks of clinical activity (one hospital employment year).
- Foundations of Pain Medicine:
- Applicants for Faculty of Pain Medicine (FPM) training need to become thoroughly familiar with the conceptual basis of pain medicine section of the curriculum to ensure preparation for the program.
- Online modules which form the Better Pain Management (BPM) program also need to be completed within the first 11 weeks of training.
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