Anesthesiology

Anesthesiology is the field of medicine that focuses on pain relief during the perioperative phase (before, during or after) of a surgical procedure. The medications used are called anesthetics and the doctor who specializes in this field is called an anesthesiologist.

Anesthesiologists are typically trained after graduating from medical school, which can take anywhere from 8 to 12 years depending on the nation. Their intensive training includes in-depth knowledge of key topics such as pharmacokinetics (the body’s reaction to a drug) or pharmacodynamics (the drug’s effect on the body). Besides pharmacology, an anesthesiologist must also be familiar with mechanical ventilation, different monitors of physiological functioning and neuroanatomy as well as other general fields of medicine.