Welcome to the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

Stanford is a world-leading department of anesthesia that offers comprehensive training in perioperative patient care, pain management and critical care medicine. Our program aims to train expert clinicians, future leaders in the field of anesthesia, and clinician-scientists who will expand our knowledge of the specialty through basic science and translational discoveries that ultimately improve our ability to provide superior care for our patients.

• Learn more about our residency program

Research is an important part of the field of anesthesia—it is what has allowed anesthesiologists to continuously improve the vital task of rendering patients unconscious for surgery, making it safer than ever. The development of 10 subspecialties within the field of anesthesia means that today’s research in this field affects not just what occurs in the operating room, but also what goes on as patients are prepped for surgery, and in the intensive care unit, the labor and delivery suites, and doctors’ offices where acute and chronic pain are being treated.

• Learn more about our research

The Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine is deeply committed to helping the community, both locally and globally. Tangible, local outreach endeavors include transport programs (Neonatal Critical Care Transport, Adult Critical Care Transport) that were developed to permit transportation of critically ill patients from institutions with inadequate facilities to Stanford hospitals for state-of-the-art care. On a global level, many faculty have participated in medical volunteer efforts in disadvantaged countries of the world.

• Explore our community projects