Certified registered nurse anesthetist and anesthesiologist assistant education programs in the United States

In Japan, a relative shortage of practicing anesthesiologists continues to be a national issue. To address this issue, some Japanese medical institutions have started developing curriculums to train non-physician perioperative anesthesia personnel, including nurse practitioners and perianesthesia nurses. We urgently need to establish a national standard for the education programs that train these extended non-physician anesthesia care providers. A certified registered nurse anesthetist educational program at a large academic medical center in the United States is described in detail as a reference. Highly systematic educational programs using simulation, didactics, and full clinical subspecialty rotations are ideal if not easily achievable in many current training institutions in Japan. Anesthesia assistant education programs in the United States can be used as an additional reference to create a national educational program in Japan.