Sofia Bertelli - Anesthesiology

 Anesthesiology is a medical specialty that focuses on the minimizing of pain in the perioperative period, which refers to the period before, during, or after surgery. Anesthesiologists work to reduce pain for surgery patients by using certain anesthetics such as sevoflurane. In hospitals, anesthesiologists normally focus on anesthetic care, there are many cases where anesthesiologists also take on non-traditional roles such as running intensive care units. 

However, there is a large global inequality for access to anesthetics and trained physicians capable of performing anesthetic care safely. The effects and occurrence of diseases, disabilities, and mortality can be lessened by surgery, and a major component of surgery is anesthetic care. Many nations globally do not have the means and resources to support infrastructure to provide surgical care to meet the ever growing need. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) the number of anesthesia providers per capita is significantly lower in low- and lower-middle-income countries compared to high-income countries. Given the critical role anesthesia providers play in ensuring safe and effective surgical care, it is important that organizations, governments, and people work to gather more comprehensive data to better understand the workforce shortages and capacity challenges in these regions. Some organizations, such as the Stanford Medicine Anesthesia Division of Global Health Equity are working to promote access to anesthetic care globally, however there is a lot more to do to ensure that every person, regardless of circumstance, can get access to anesthetic care if they require it. 


figure 1

Global distribution of physician anesthesia providers per 100,000 population. Source: The World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA) Global Anesthesia Workforce Survey 



Meet The Author:

Hello! My name is Sofia and I am a sophomore in highschool! I’m very interested and passionate about learning more about different professions and global issues in the fields of medicine and biology! I hope to pursue a career in medicine, specifically anesthesiology when I am older and I also hope to continue to use my voice to educate and spread awareness about topics important to me. I also love to draw, read, and travel, which are all things that provide new perspectives I like to incorporate into my writing! 


Sources: 

Dubowitz, Gerald, et al. “Global Anesthesia Workforce Crisis: A Preliminary Survey Revealing Shortages Contributing to Undesirable Outcomes and Unsafe Practices.” World Journal of Surgery, vol. 34, no. 3, 2010, pp. 438–44. PubMed Central, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-009-0229-6.

“Global Health Division.” Anesthesia Division of Global Health Equity, https://med.stanford.edu/globalanesthesia.html#:~:text=Our%20Mission,essential%20component%20of%20healthcare%20systems. Accessed 7 June 2025.

Dubowitz, Gerald, et al. “Global Anesthesia Workforce Crisis: A Preliminary Survey Revealing Shortages Contributing to Undesirable Outcomes and Unsafe Practices.” World Journal of Surgery, vol. 34, no. 3, 2010, pp. 438–44. PubMed Central, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-009-0229-6.

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