Anaesthesia Associate (Taught)

This programme is intended for existing health care practitioners or graduates with a science background who wish to work as part of the anaesthetic team.

This programme will develop a practitioner role that enables the anaesthesia team to have more staff working differently. Presently in the UK only doctors who have had specialist training in anaesthesia can administer anaesthetics.

The Anaesthesia Associate is a health professional who will expand the anaesthetic service and make operating theatres work more efficiently. You will work alongside other members of the anaesthetic team and under the supervision of your anaesthetist.

The programme is studied over 27 months full-time which includes 24 months of academic study and clinical training, followed by 3 months of supervised practice.

Students who have satisfactorily completed the 120 taught credits of the Postgraduate Diploma: Anaesthesia Associate will have the option of transferring to the Anaesthesia Associate MSc Programme. Award of the MSc will require the completion of an additional 60 credit Dissertation module, which would take the form of a research project of their own choosing. Please contact the programme coordinator for more details.

Introduction to clinical practice (1); introduction to clinical practice (2); introduction to anaesthesia; physics in anaesthesia; the anaesthesia machine and monitoring; the heart and circulation; the airways and lungs; the kidneys, liver, endocrine system and blood; the brain and nervous system; clinical history and examination; management of life-threatening emergencies; advanced practice.

Students attend the University for an induction day, exams and the mock OSCE. The final OSCE examination takes place at the Royal College of Anaesthetists in London.