Anesthesiology

Adapted from “DRAFT Program Requirements for Fellowship Education in Obstetric Anesthesiology” (http://soap.org/acgme.php)

Definition & Scope

Obstetric anesthesiology is the subspecialty of anesthesiology devoted to the comprehensive anesthetic management, perioperative care, and pain management of women during pregnancy & the puerperium.

Core Goals

The subspecialist in obstetric anesthesiology, after at least one year of training, shall have the knowledge & expertise to:

• Provide anesthesia care for the full spectrum of pregnant women requiring anesthesia care, particularly those with complicated medical & obstetric conditions, for all types of obstetric, surgical, therapeutic and diagnostic interventions;
• Perform resuscitation, pain management, and critical care specific to pregnant women;
• Serve as a consultant to other generalist anesthesiologists, obstetricians, pediatricians, and nurses and critical care medicine physicians;
• Develop new knowledge & techniques for the anesthetic care of the pregnant woman;
• Train future generations of generalists and sub-specialists in obstetric anesthesiology;
• To develop, implement, and manage obstetric anesthesiology clinical & educational programs.

See Detailed Core Learning Objectives for further details.