About OA

Who are Ontario’s Anesthesiologists?

Anesthesiologists are medical specialists who provide a variety of essential services to the patients of Ontario. After graduation from Medical School, doctors who want to deliver anesthetics have two options.

1. If they want to continue to practice as Family Physicians or in another field such as Emergency Medicine, they can undertake extra training to provide basic anesthesia services. This involves another year or more of specialized training and in the end they become what are referred to an General Practitioner Anesthetists (or GP Anesthetists)
2. Anesthesiologists, on the other hand must undergo 4 to 6 years of additional training and sit a series of examinations to become certified by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. While they are still trained to provide basic anesthesia services, the extra training prepares them to manage complex anesthesia cases including cardiac, neurosurgical and thoracic anesthesia. It also prepares them to undertake a variety of other roles in our health care system with which you might be less familiar.

During their extensive training, Anesthesiologists have the opportunity to become expert at a range of procedures including airway management, monitoring of arterial and venous blood pressures, inserting various types of nerve blocks, and using different drugs for the management of pain. These skills are used in various locations throughout the hospital:

• In Obstetrics, epidural analgesia is the most effective method of treating pain during labor. Anesthesiologists have the necessary skill to accurately place an epidural catheter, optimize pain relief and to manage side effects. They are also prepared to intervene should complications arise during the course of managing pain during labor.
• Anesthesiologists are trained and constantly updated in resuscitation of critically ill patients, and frequently attend cardiac arrests in hospital. They are frequently the first responders to life threatening situations in the Emergency Rooms and in certain hospitals which specialize in dealing with trauma such as Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto they function as Trauma Team Leaders
• For similar reasons, in many Intensive Care Units across the province Anesthesiologists work as Intensivists
• Anesthesiologists have a special interest in and undergo extra training around the treatment of pain. In many hospitals, anesthesiologists provide a postoperative Acute Pain Service to ensure that patients suffer as little postoperative pain as possible. Options offered and supervised may involve using nerve blocks such as thoracic epidurals and computerized “pain pumps” to administer pain medication when the patient needs it most. Some anesthesiologists provide highly specialized services in Chronic Pain Clinics. The use of injections and the manipulation of potent medications is often of significant benefit to these most unfortunate patients who are forced to cope with chronic ongoing pain.

In addition to their clinical duties, many anesthesiologists also undertake research, teaching and administrative duties. They work with pharmaceutical companies and equipment companies to develop better anesthetic drugs and equipment. In addition to teaching a future generation of anesthesiologists, anesthesiologists also teach medical students, nursing students, family doctors, emergency room physicians and paramedics.