Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists

The Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) is responsible for examining and qualifying anaesthetists in Australia and New Zealand. The College maintains standards of practice in anaesthesia.

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Membership

The College has approximately 3200 fellows; about a fifth are female. Among current trainees, the gender ratio is nearly even. In addition to Australia and New Zealand, the College has accredited training hospitals in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. In all, nearly eight hundred trainees learn in 140 ANZCA-accredited hospitals worldwide.

History

In 1952, sixty-nine anaesthetists of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons established the Faculty of Anaesthetists within the College of Surgeons. Prior to 1952, Australian anaesthetists were subsumed within general organisations of physicians.

By 1992, the Faculty of Anaesthetists had grown to 2100 Fellows and five hundred trainees, and represented Australia's third-largest group of medical specialists. This group dissociated itself from the College of Surgeons, forming the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists.

Training with the Australia and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists

Completion of the Fellowship of the ANZCA requires:

• Acceptance to an accredited registrar position in a hospital for 5 years total
• Completion of the Primary Physiology and Pharmacology Examinations
• Completion of the Final Examination
• Completion of all 12 Modules in various areas of Anaesthesia, including Neuroanaesthesia, Cardiothoracic Anaesthetic and Paediatric Anaesthesia

This time will usually spent with four years at an accredited hospital network, and a fifth year (the Provisional Fellow Year) at another accredited hospital network (although this is not always the case).

Those completing the above are eligible to become a Fellow of the ANZCA.

Fellows of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists are permitted to use the post nominals FANZCA.

Fellows of the Faculty of Anaesthetists, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons are permitted to use the post nominals FFA RACS.