I’m an anaesthetist at The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne and Department of Critical Care at the University of Melbourne. I’m also Chair of the Perioperative Medicine Content and Assessment Committee.
Perioperative medicine has been a passion of mine for almost twenty years. Over many decades, the practice of medicine has become siloed, resulting in poorer patient outcomes. Perioperative medicine is about building bridges between these siloes. It involves implementation of “impactful partnerships”, leveraging patient advocacy, collaboration, education, leadership, communication and research to create positive outcomes for patients contemplating or undergoing surgery.
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".