Beyond competence: defining and promoting excellence in anaesthesia.

Recent trends in medical training have tended to focus on competence, in the sense of adequate performance, rather than excellence. This article reviews published literature and relevant concepts relating to excellence and professionalism from within anaesthesia, from medicine more generally and from outside the profession. A number of conceptual frameworks are presented that could be adapted for the promotion of excellence, and some of the necessary prerequisites for this promotion discussed.