La démographie actualisée en anesthésie-réanimation

In France the decrease in the number of trained anaesthetists relative to their workload, is the result of changes in medical studies organisation in 1971, and the reform of the residency in 1984, that led to a dramatic reduction in the number of anaesthetists in training. In addition, The medical time available for each physician, has been reduced in 2002 by the reform of the working time in hospitals, by the setting up of the post-on-call security rest, and by the integration of the on-call time in the working time. The corrective measures, such as in the number of residents, has made it possible recovering levels of trainees comparable to those of the beginning of the eighties. The Working Authorization Procedure, attributed for medical doctors with a non-European Union diploma, has also strongly contributed to maintain the number of anaesthetists. The increase in the demand for Anaesthesia has forced many anaesthetists to work in different places, and many institutions have required temporary workers to maintain their activity and to keep open. Anaesthetists have focused their activities of operating theatre and are no more participant in emergency care departments as they were in the past. In France, where anaesthetists are simultaneously trained in intensive care and perioperative medicine the maintenance of their activity in this settings is essential for the quality of care of the operated patients.