Anaesthesia
Anaesthetists are the largest group of hospital-based specialists and give anaesthetics for surgical, medical and psychiatric procedures.
They facilitate pain-free childbirth, resuscitate acutely unwell patients, run chronic pain services and lead intensive care units.
Life as an anaesthetist
It’s your responsibility to choose the appropriate anaesthetic for your patient. Typically, you’ll offer four stages of patient care for a routine anaesthetic:
- preparation – you’ll assess your patient’s fitness for anaesthesia and agree on an anaesthetic plan
- induction – you’ll initiate the anaesthesia
- maintenance – you’ll continue the anaesthesia while monitoring your patient’s condition, including checking the activity of the heart, blood pressure, oxygen and carbon dioxide levels, breathing, body temperature, depth of anaesthesia and the body fluid balance
- recovery – you’ll reverse the anaesthesia and support the patient’s recovery
Most of your time will be spent in operating theatres, but anaesthetists perform numerous roles in many different areas of a hospital. On any given day, you’ll facilitate pain free childbirth, resuscitate acutely unwell patients, run chronic pain services and lead intensive care units.
You can expect to work in areas such as:
- obstetric units
- critical care services for intensive care and high dependency patients
- resuscitation services
- emergency departments
- chronic pain management
- acute pain teams
- dentistry
- perioperative clinics
- research
- psychiatry – for patients receiving electro-convulsive therapy (ECT)
- radiology – anaesthesia for CT scans and MRI, especially in children
- inter-hospital transfers of critically ill patients
You’ll also work closely with patients, understanding their condition and treatment. It’s your responsibility to care for a patient for the duration of their operation. Being prepared for the unexpected can be exciting but also challenging at times.
Dr Sarah Plummer
Consultant anaesthetist
Read Sarah's story.Seeing patients wake up safely and with good pain relief after any surgery always makes my job worthwhile.
How much can I earn?
You’ll first earn a salary when you start your foundation training after medical school. Find out details of current salary ranges for foundation and specialty training, SAS doctors and consultants on the 'Pay for doctors' page.
How about the benefits?
- make a difference
- flexible and part-time working
- high income early in your career
- work anywhere in the world
- excellent pension scheme
- good holiday entitlement
- NHS discounts in shops and restaurants
Must-have skills
- excellent communication skills to manage a wide range of relationships with colleagues, and patients and their families
- emotional resilience, a calm temperament and the ability to work well under pressure
- teamwork and the capacity to lead multidisciplinary teams
- problem-solving and diagnostic skills
- outstanding organisational ability and effective decision-making skills
- first-class time and resource management for the benefit of patients
Entry requirements
Your first step is medical school. Typically, you’ll need excellent GCSEs and three A or A* passes at A level including chemistry for a five-year undergraduate degree in medicine. Many medical schools also ask for biology and others may require maths or physics.
If you already have a degree, you could study for a four-year postgraduate degree in medicine.
You’ll need to pass an interview and admissions test. You’ll be asked to show how you demonstrate the NHS values such as compassion and respect.
Some medical schools look to recruit a mix of students from different backgrounds and geographical areas, so your educational and economic background and family circumstances could be considered as part of your application.
What are my chances of starting a career as an anaesthetist?
In 2020, there were 1,479 applications for 569 places for anaesthetic specialty training.
How to become an anaesthetist
- After medical school, you’ll join the paid two-year foundation programme where you’ll work in six placements in different settings.
- After your foundation programme, you can apply for paid specialty training to become an anaesthetist which will take a minimum of 7 or 8 years.
- You may be able to train part time, for example for health reasons or if you have family or caring responsibilities.
Where a career as an anaesthetist can take you
You could:
- specialise or conduct research in areas such as pain medicine
- teach medical students or postgraduate students in training
- get involved in research at universities, the NHS or private sector
Displaying 1 - 5 of 77 matches
Medicine with Foundation Year
University of Plymouth
View courseOpens in a new window
- Qualification
- Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery - BMBS
- Study mode
- Full-time
- Duration of the course
- 6 Years
- Leading to a career in
- Medicine
- Contact details
- [email protected] +44 (0)1752 437333
- Region
- South West
- Admissions address
- Drake Circus
Plymouth
PL4 8AA
United Kingdom
Medicine (Graduate Entry) (4 years)
University of St Andrews
View courseOpens in a new window
- Qualification
- Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery - MB ChB
- Study mode
- Full-time
- Duration of the course
- 4 Years
- Leading to a career in
- Medicine
- Contact details
- [email protected] 01334 463619
- Region
- Scotland
- Admissions address
- 16 St Katharine's West
St Andrews
KY16 9AX
United Kingdom
Medicine (Graduate Entry)
Cardiff University
View courseOpens in a new window
- Qualification
- Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery - MB BCh
- Study mode
- Full-time
- Duration of the course
- 4 Years
- Leading to a career in
- Medicine
- Contact details
- [email protected] 029 2087 9999
- Region
- Wales
- Admissions address
- 30-36 Newport Road
Cardiff
CF24 0DE
United Kingdom
Medicine North Wales
Cardiff University
View courseOpens in a new window
- Qualification
- Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery - MB BCh
- Study mode
- Full-time
- Duration of the course
- 4 Years
- Leading to a career in
- Medicine
- Contact details
- [email protected] 029 2087 9999
- Region
- Wales
- Admissions address
- Bangor University
Bangor
Gwynedd, North Wales
Bangor
LL57 2DG
Wales
Medicine
Cardiff University
View courseOpens in a new window
- Qualification
- Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery - MB BCh
- Study mode
- Full-time
- Duration of the course
- 5 Years
- Leading to a career in
- Medicine
- Contact details
- [email protected] 029 2087 9999
- Region
- Wales
- Admissions address
- 30-36 Newport Road
Cardiff
CF24 0DE
United Kingdom
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Consultant Anaesthetist
East Lancashire, BB10 2PQ
- Salary :
- £109725.00 to £145478.00
- Type :
- Permanent
- Employer :
- East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust
-
Consultant Anaesthetist
Peterborough, PE3 9GZ
- Salary :
- £109725.00 to £145478.00
- Type :
- Permanent
- Employer :
- North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust
-
Consultant Anaesthetist
Whitehaven, CA28 8JG
- Salary :
- £105504.00 to £139882.00
- Type :
- Permanent
- Employer :
- North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust
-
Consultant Anaesthetist
Basingstoke, RG24 9NA
- Salary :
- £105504.00 to £139882.00
- Type :
- Permanent
- Employer :
- Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
-
Consultant Anaesthetist
Chesterfield, S43 4XE
- Salary :
- £118668.00
- Type :
- Permanent
- Employer :
- Practice Plus Group
-
Consultant Anaesthetist
Sheffield, S11 8UX
- Salary :
- Negotiable
- Type :
- Permanent
- Employer :
- One Health Group
-
Consultant Anaesthetist
Poole & Bournemouth, BH7 7DW
- Salary :
- £109725.00 to £145478.00
- Type :
- Permanent
- Employer :
- University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust
-
Consultant Anaesthetist
Shepton Mallet, BA4 4LP
- Salary :
- Negotiable
- Type :
- Permanent
- Employer :
- Practice Plus Group
-
Consultant Anaesthetist
Whitehaven, CA28 8JG
- Salary :
- £105504.00 to £139882.00
- Type :
- Permanent
- Employer :
- North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust
-
Consultant Anaesthetist
Winchester, SO22 5DG
- Salary :
- £105504.00 to £139882.00
- Type :
- Permanent
- Employer :
- Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
-
Consultant Intensivist / Anaesthetist
Basingstoke, RG24 9NA
- Salary :
- £109725.00 to £145478.00
- Type :
- Permanent
- Employer :
- Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
-
Locum Consultant Anaesthetist
Stockton-on-Tees, TS19 8PE
- Salary :
- £105504.00 to £139882.00
- Type :
- Locum
- Employer :
- North Tees & Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust
-
Locum Consultant Anaesthetist
East Lancashire, BB10 2PQ
- Salary :
- £109725.00 to £145478.00
- Type :
- Fixed-Term
- Employer :
- East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust
-
Bank Consultant Anaesthetist
Shepton Mallet, BA4 4LP
- Salary :
- Negotiable
- Type :
- Bank
- Employer :
- Practice Plus Group
-
CONSULTANT ANAESTHETIST – Obstetric Anaesthesia
Birmingham, B15 2TH
- Salary :
- £109725.00 to £145478.00
- Type :
- Permanent
- Employer :
- University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
-
Part Time Consultant Anaesthetist
Birmingham, B152QD
- Salary :
- £130000.00
- Type :
- Permanent
- Employer :
- Practice Plus Group
-
Locum Consultant Cardiothoracic Anaesthetist
Stoke on Trent, ST4 6QG
- Salary :
- £109725.00 to £145478.00
- Type :
- Fixed-Term
- Employer :
- University Hospital of North Midlands NHS Trust
-
Consultant Anaesthetist in Paediatric Anaesthesia
Hull, HU3 2JZ
- Salary :
- £109725.00 to £145478.00
- Type :
- Permanent
- Employer :
- Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
-
Locum Consultant Anaesthetist in Paediatric Anaesthesia
Oxford, OX3 9DU
- Salary :
- £105504.00 to £139882.00
- Type :
- Fixed-Term
- Employer :
- Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
-
Consultant Anaesthetist with an Interest in Obstetric Anaesthesia
Telford, TF1 6TF
- Salary :
- £109725.00 to £145478.00
- Type :
- Permanent
- Employer :
- The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust
-
Consultant Anaesthetist (Interest in Specialist/Major General Surgery)
Oxford, OX3 9DU
- Salary :
- £105504.00 to £139882.00
- Type :
- Permanent
- Employer :
- Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Showing 6 of 21 results
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These organisations have further information about being an anaesthetist, particularly as your career progresses. Take a look.
The Royal College of Anaesthetists
The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland
Association of Cardiothoracic Anaesthetists
The National Institute of Academic Anaesthesia
And hear from people already working as an anaesthetist:
Starting in anaesthetics (BMJ)