Specialist anaesthetic training and certification process in England.

Specialist accreditation in anaesthesia in the United Kingdom currently requires a minimum of six years recognised training after full medical registration. In future, the training programme will become more structured, with more emphasis on regular in-training assessment, and attempts are being made to reduce the overall training period. The Royal College of Anaesthetists has published a proposed plan for structured training and is evaluating the reliability and validity of traditional and newer methods of examination. It is one of the first postgraduate bodies to introduce the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) into its examination structure. A more formal programme of Continuing Medical Education is also being considered.