Anaesthesia Technology Courses

Last Updated on July 28, 2023 by Vishnu Nambiar

Do you want to become an Anaesthesia Technologist? If yes, this article will be of help to you! Here, I’ve listed some good anaesthesia technology courses, which will help you become an anaesthesia technician. The article covers topics like course details, eligibility criteria, admission process, pg courses, career prospects and salary details.

Anaesthesia technology is a job oriented course. In India, Diploma as well as B.Sc. Degree course format is available, when it comes to anaesthesia technology studies. Pursuing and completing any course format mentioned above will help you become an anaesthesia technician.

Who is an anaesthesia professional? What are his/her tasks? Let us find out the answers to these questions in the next paragraph.

An anaesthesia technician is an allied healthcare professional. Their main task is to assist Doctors/Surgeons during surgery, by administering appropriate dose of anaesthesia and operating anaesthesia equipment whenever required.

They can be seen assisting Doctors/Surgeons in Intensive Care Units (ICU), Emergency wards and departments and Operation Theatres. Largely, their task is pre operative. That means they are required before the operation starts, to administer anaesthetic agent to the patient. In some cases, there are also needed to perform the said task during or after surgery.

Anaesthesia technology course trains students in aspects such as anaesthesia equipment, anaesthesia techniques, anaesthetic agents and dosage, patient monitoring, anaesthesia supplies and anaesthesia technology.

The knowledge and skills that they acquire helps them in choosing appropriate anaesthetic, determining appropriate dose, operating anaesthetic equipment and monitoring patients’ conditions.

Let us check out the courses now. Vital information about the courses have been provided in the next section-

Course details

1 B.Sc. courses

Number of B.Sc. programs related to Anaesthesia Technology are available in India. On completing B.Sc. course, successful candidates will be awarded the ‘Bachelor of Science’ Degree! Let us check out some popular courses-

• B.Sc. Anaesthesia Technology
• B.Sc. Operation Theatre and Anaesthesia Technology
• B.S. Anaesthesia and Operation Theatre Techniques
• B.Sc. Medical Technology (OT and Anaesthesia Technology)

The first entry, B.Sc. Anaesthesia Technology solely focuses on the field of anaesthesia technology. Other courses are generalized ones. Still, they do cover the anaesthesia technology subjects in detail.

Duration: Bachelor of Science course is 3 years long. The academic program consists of classroom lectures and practical sessions. Evaluation is done through written exam and practical test.

Eligibility criteria: In case of most of the institutes out there, minimum educational qualification required is- 10+2 passed with minimum 45% marks (may vary from one institute to another) in Physics, Chemistry and Biology subjects.

Admission process: Depends on the institute. Most institutes follow merit based admission process, where marks scored in board exam and/or relevant entrance test are taken into consideration. Some institutes follow ‘direct admission’ process. High profile institutes are known to have their own screening test for selecting candidates.

PG courses and further studies: Graduates may go for relevant M.Sc. courses such as- M.Sc. in Operation Theatre and Anaesthesia Technology, Anaesthesia Technology and OT Techniques and Anaesthesia Technology. M.Sc. courses last for a period of 2 years. Other than M.Sc. programs, graduates may also go for relevant PG Diploma as well as PG Certificate courses.

2 Diploma courses

If you want to become an anaesthesia technician but don’t want to go for B.Sc. course, you may go for Diploma course related to this field. There are a handful of Diploma courses to choose from. Some of the well known ones are-

• Diploma in Anaesthesia Technology
• Diploma in OT and Anaesthesia Technology
• Diploma in OT and Anaesthesia Techniques

Duration: Typical Diploma course is 2 years long. The academic program consists of classroom lectures and practical sessions. Evaluation is done through written exam and practical test.

Eligibility criteria: In case of most of the institutes out there, minimum educational qualification required is- 10+2 passed with minimum 45% marks (may vary from one institute to another) in Physics, Chemistry and Biology subjects. In case of some institutes, even mathematics group students are accepted.

Admission process: Depends on the institute. Most institutes follow merit based admission process, where marks scored in board exam and/or relevant entrance test are taken into consideration. Some institutes follow ‘direct admission’ process.

3 CRNA course for Registered Nurses

This course is for registered nurses. CRNA stands for Certified Registered Nurse Anaesthetist.

It is like a speciality training course for those who have completed nursing education and have 1 year service experience in ICU or CCU setup under their belt! CRNAs are capable of administering anaesthetics, monitoring patients and giving post surgical care to patients. Thanks to their nursing education and training, their role is not limited to that of an anaesthesia technician.

Syllabus

Irrespective of the course format, core subjects remain the same, when it comes to Anaesthesia Technology. Let us take a look at the core subjects to get a better idea about the course structure.

• Anatomy and Physiology
• Pharmacology
• Microbiology
• Anaesthetic Equipment
• Anaesthetic Procedures
• Regional Anaesthesia
• Anaesthesia and Surgical Specialties
• Basics of Anaesthesiology
• Patient Care and Monitoring

Career prospects and job opportunities

Anaesthesia technicians are allied healthcare professionals. Thanks to the growth phase the healthcare sector is going through, allied healthcare professionals are in demand these days.

An anaesthesia technician takes care of anaesthesia supply and stock, equipment setup, pre, intra and post surgery anaesthetic administering as well as patient monitoring and care. ICUs, CCUs, Emergency departments, Surgery wards and Operation Theatres are the common places where they are expected to function. Usually they work in a team comprising Surgeons, nurses and other staff.

Also read:

Nursing courses in India

Operation Theatre Technician courses

Courses after 12th Science Biology group

Optometry courses

Dialysis Technology courses

MLT courses

OTT courses

Radiography courses

Government and private hospitals and clinics performing surgical activities are known to hire anaesthesia technicians.

Salary

Starting salary depends on a number of different factors. Prominent factors are- profile of the employer, employee skills, aptitude and grades attained by the employee. General starting salary is around 15-20k Rupees per month. In case of Government job, salary will be based on Pay Band and scale. Abroad, in developed countries, the pay scale is much higher than it is in India.

Vishnu Nambiar

I am Vishnu Nambiar a career and educational blogger from India. I am also a full time educational consultant having more than 12 years of experience in the educational sector.

I share articles related to courses, colleges, careers, exam tips and more here.