Book excerpt: Anesthesia Crash Course is uniquely positioned to address the needs of new trainees in anesthesia. This book is written in a conversational tone, avoiding unnecessary jargon and distilling the key concepts of anesthesia into easy-to-remember tidbits - an approach in increasing demand by medical students and junior physicians. The audience for this book is chiefly new anesthesia residents, interns, medical students who rotate through anesthesia services, and nurse anesthetists. By demystifying the world of anesthesia, it provides a welcome resource to medical students and RNs who are considering additional training in this popular but poorly understood specialty. Surgical residents who feel they're not up to speed with what's happening on the other side of the "ether screen" would certainly also benefit from reading Anesthesia Crash Course. New anesthesia trainees face an extremely daunting learning curve. As they progress through training, they will read longer and more detailed treatises on every aspect of modern anesthesia. It is not realistic to imagine that someone might finish such a book in the first week of his or her training! Anesthesia Crash Course wil serve as a bridge between a trainee's pre-anesthesia experience and more formal training. It can be read in the last month of internship, or in evenings while completing the first few weeks of anesthesia training. It can also serve as a medical student's accompaniment for a two-week anesthesia elective.