Certified anesthesiologist assistants (CAAs) are highly trained master’s degree level non-physician anesthesia care providers. CAAs are integral members of the anesthesia care team as described by the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA). This designation must be disambiguated from the Certified Clinical Anesthesia Assistant (CCAA) designation conferred by the Canadian Society of Respiratory Therapists. All CAAs possess a baccalaureate degree, and complete an intensive didactic and clinical program at a postgraduate level. CAAs are trained in the delivery and maintenance of all types of anesthesia care as well as advanced patient monitoring techniques. The goal of CAA education is to guide the transformation of student applicants into competent clinicians.
General description
Prior to acceptance into their respective graduate programs all anesthesiologist assistant students must possess an undergraduate degree. The anesthesiologist assistant works under the medical direction of a physician anesthesiologist as a part of the anesthesia care team. Anesthesiologist assistants administer all forms of anesthetic medications, IV fluids and blood products.
Anesthesiologist assistants generally work in the hospital setting but can work at any location such as pain clinics, dental offices, and outpatient surgical centers. Anesthesiologist assistants work in all facets of surgical environments such as endoscopy, conscious sedation, abdominal surgery, orthopedic surgery, as well as cardiac surgery, neurosurgery, transplant surgery, and trauma surgery centers. Currently Certified Anesthesiologist Assistants are able to practice in sixteen states and the District of Columbia. In each of these states, the anesthesiologist assistant falls under the regulatory authority and licensing of the State Board of Medicine.
there are twelve anesthesiologist assistant training programs in the United States all of which offer degrees at the Master's level. Approximately 97% of currently working anesthesiologist assistants hold a master's degree (some early anesthesiologist assistant graduates held bachelor's degrees). All newly credentialed and future anesthesiologist assistants must complete an accredited Master's program for anesthesiologist assistants. Upon completion of the educational program, graduates must sit for a credentialing exam that is co-validated by the National Board of Medical Examiners and National Commission for Certification of Anesthesiologist Assistants. All anesthesiologist assistant programs are credentialed by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Educational Programs (CAAHEP).
History of the profession
In the 1960s, three anesthesiologists, Joachim S. Gravenstein, John E. Steinhaus, and Perry P. Volpitto, were concerned with the shortage of anesthesiologists in the country. These academic department chairs analyzed the spectrum of tasks required during anesthesia care. The tasks were individually evaluated based on the level of professional responsibility, required education and necessary technical skill. The result of this anesthesia workforce analysis was to introduce the concept of team care and to define a new type of anesthesia provider called a mid-level anesthesia practitioner linked to a supervising anesthesiologist. This new professional - the Anesthesiologist Assistant or AA - was an answer to help alleviate this shortage
The chairmen's vision became reality in 1969 when the first AA training programs began accepting students at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.