College of Anaesthetists celebrates its 25th anniversary
College of Anaesthetists celebrates its 25th
anniversary today
ANZCA (the Australian and New
Zealand College of Anaesthetists) today celebrates 25 years
of leadership in medical research, specialist education and
training
and the setting of professional standards. The
College was founded on this day in 1992, after 40 years as a
faculty of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.
Since its founding, ANZCA has taken a leading role in many areas of anaesthesia, pain medicine and intensive care. These include:
Leading the world in the treatment of
pain by establishing the specialty of pain medicine and the
Faculty of Pain Medicine.
Setting professional standards
for anaesthetists through professional documents and
accreditation.
Answering key questions in medical
research by recruiting more than 30,000 patients to help
with $25 million worth of studies for the ANZCA Clinical
Trials Network.
Supporting anaesthesia in developing
nations such as Papua New Guinea with clinical and
educational visits, and the seeding of the Essential Pain
Management program now taught in 47
countries.
Establishing intensive care medicine as a
specialty by instituting training and accreditation programs
through a joint Faculty of Intensive Care, and then by
helping found the Australian and New Zealand College of
Intensive Care Medicine.
ANZCA President Professor David
A. Scott said, “Our College is now a respected global
leader. ANZCA’s training, education, research, continuing
professional development, events and safety and quality
standards are world class. Ongoing fellowship of ANZCA
identifies you as having attained, and maintained,
excellence as a specialist.
“As a specialty, we
are constantly striving to improve patient care and
outcomes. With our ageing population undergoing more complex
procedures, we are becoming even more involved in helping
patients prepare for surgery, and in caring for them
afterwards. The growth of perioperative medicine is an
important new frontier, with anaesthetists taking a lead
role in patient care before, during and after surgery. The
College supports specialist anaesthetists in increasing
their collaboration with other specialties around
perioperative care.
“The last 25 years has seen
anaesthesia and pain medicine become increasingly
sophisticated, effective and safe. We will continue that
progress. Our community has much to
celebrate.”
ends