Anaesthesiology is the branch of medical science concerned with the perioperative care and preparation of patients for surgery including anaesthesia, intensive care and critical emergency medicine, and pain medicine. A doctor who is specialized in this branch of medicine is called an anaesthetist. Over the past century, the study and administration of anaesthesia have become more complex and has developed from being an experimental area with non-specialists using untested drugs and procedures into a highly refined, safe and effective field of medicine. Anaesthesiology is a continuously changing medical speciality and its improvement and development are guided by scientific and technological development and demand and developments in surgery.  Anaesthesiologists should have an in-depth knowledge of human physiology, medical physics and pharmacology, along with knowledge in all areas of medicine, surgery and regarding its impacts on patients. In recent ages, the role of anaesthesiologists has grown to focus beforehand in order to identify high-risk patients and optimize their fitness for the procedure, and to maintain situational awareness of the surgery to improve the safety, as well as afterwards in order to promote and enhance recovery.  The introduction of computers in the field of anaesthetics and operation monitoring is playing a growing role in the monitoring of vital bodily functions. It is expected that in the near future, computers will be used not only to control and administer anaesthesia but also be used in real-time to provide feedback from physiological patient parameters and use these parameters to provide closed-loop anaesthesia.

Anaesthesiology also emphasises the scope of the speciality outside the operation theatre, like trauma care, critical care and pain management. During the two years of study, the various subjects that a student goes through generally are pharmacology, medicine, physics, human anatomy and physiology. Anaesthesia management, fluid management, medical gases, Emergency anaesthesia, monitored anaesthesia, labour analgesia, critical care practice, ATLS, occupational hazards, safety in anaesthesia, medical audit, quality assurance, anaesthesia standards, ethics in anaesthesia, Principles of evidence-based medicine, bio-statistics etc. The course is best suited for students who are, even though uninterested in becoming a doctor, have an interest in work in a surgical setting. Anaesthesiologists provide anaesthesia services to various surgical specialities like orthopaedics, general surgery, paediatric, plastic surgery, neuro and cardiac surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology. They provide medical care to patients in a wide variety of situations, including preoperative evaluation of the patient in consultation with the surgical team for the creation of a plan for anaesthesia tailor-made for each individual patient, airway management, intraoperative life support and provision of pain.

The minimum educational qualification for eligibility for admission to the course is that the aspiring candidates must have attained the MBBS degree from an institution recognized by the Medical Council of India, MD in Anaesthesiology is a 2-year course. Each year is divided into a total of 2 semesters with each semester lasting for 6 months. Some of the popular professional avenues open to postgraduates in anaesthetics are anaesthetist (who does a preoperative evaluation to create a plan for anaesthesia tailored to each patient, airway management, intraoperative life support and provision of pain.), critical care specialist ( resuscitating and managing critically ill patients), professor etc.