Perioperative medicine combines the four critical aspects of healthcare: patient journeys, public health, value, and workforce wellbeing. By individualising the perioperative journey with shared decisions with patients and colleagues we can reduce long term complications and improve quality of life. By using good evidence, we can increasingly drive the value proposition of not only improving quality of care but also minimising or even reducing costs. In pursing these worthwhile clinical objectives perioperative medicine offers great opportunities to enhance our professional experience and personal wellbeing.
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Find out more about perioperative medicine
The Chapter of Perioperative Medicine has key strategic objectives to promote research, enhance professional development and oversee the quality of the perioperative medicine certification, whilst also fostering cross-specialty collaboration.
The Chapter of Perioperative Medicine Board reports to the ANZCA Council on developing and implementing an integrated perioperative care model and educational offerings for Australia and New Zealand, focusing on professional practice, clinical quality, and patient safety.
The ANZCA Course in Perioperative Medicine enables specialist doctors enhance their skills and knowledge in perioperative medicine.
The Perioperative Care Framework was developed by the Perioperative Care Working Group approved by ANZCA Council in December 2021, and updated in December 2023.
Perioperative medicine emphasises the importance of an integrated, planned, and personalised approach to patient care before, during, and after any surgical procedure involving anaesthesia. The goal is to improve the patient experience and outcomes, lower the occurrence of postoperative issues, decrease the number of days spent in the hospital, and minimize readmissions after surgery. We call this approach a "perioperative care model".