In the US, satisfactory completion of the written and oral Board examinations allows an anesthesiologist to be called a "Diplomate" of the American Board of Anesthesiology or of the American Osteopathic Board of Anesthesiology. This is often referred to colloquially as being "Board Certified". In the UK, Fellowship of the Royal College of Anaesthetists (FRCA) is conferred upon medical doctors following satisfactory completion of the written and oral parts of the Royal College's examination.
The role of the anesthesiologist is no longer limited to the operation itself. Many anesthesiologists function as perioperative physicians, ensuring optimal analgesia and maintenance of physiologic homeostasis throughout the preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative periods. Anesthesiologists may elect to subspecialize in anesthesia for particular types of surgery (cardiothoracic, obstetrical, neurosurgical, pediatric), regional anesthesia, acute or chronic pain medicine, or Intensive Care Medicine.
Anesthesia providers are often trained using full scale human simulators. The field was an early adopter of this technology and has used it to train students and practitioners at all levels for the past several decades. Notable centers in the United States can be found at the Johns Hopkins Medicine Simulation Center, Harvard's Center for Medical Simulation, Stanford, The Mount Sinai School of Medicine HELPS Center in New York, Duke University, and the University of Utah.