Australia and New Zealand Training in the
medical speciality of
intensive care medicine is facilitated and managed by the
College of Intensive Care Medicine of Australia and New Zealand. Training takes a minimum of six years to complete after
internship and involves a dedicated 12 months of
clinical medicine training and 12 months of
anaesthesia training in addition to training in the
intensive care unit. Trainees also complete a first part exam in the relevant basic sciences and a second part 'Fellowship' exam towards the end of training. Doctors who complete training are awarded Fellowship of the College of Intensive Care Medicine of Australia and New Zealand (FCICM) and are eligible to practice as a
consultant Intensivist.
Sweden In Sweden, one speciality entails both anaesthesiology and intensive care, i.e., one cannot become an anaesthetist without also becoming an intensivist and vice versa. The
Swedish Board of Health and Welfare regulates specialization for medical doctors in the country and defines the speciality of anaesthesiology and intensive care as being: {{blockquote •
perioperative medicine, • anaesthesia and pain relief during
diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, • intensive care, •
urgent care of patients with serious diseases and injuries, •
prehospital care including
transport and
disaster medicine, and •
pain management.” A medical doctor can enter training as a resident in anaesthesiology and intensive care after obtaining a license to practice medicine, following an 18-24 month internship. The residency program then lasts at least five years, not including the internship. See also
Residency (medicine), Sweden.
United States After medical school there are several different routes to becoming an intensivist. One can do a three-year internal medicine residency, and then a three-year pulmonology/critical care fellowship, or a two-year critical care fellowship. Also, if starting with internal medicine, it is possible to do a different specialty fellowship entirely, such as three years for cardiovascular disease or gastrointestinal disease) plus one year of accredited clinical fellowship training in critical care medicine. It is also possible to complete a residency first in general surgery, anaesthesiology, and emergency medicine before applying for a one year fellowship in surgical critical care. ==Role in healthcare==