History as a Tool in Anesthesia Education: Leveraging the Past to Teach Professionalism and Shape Professional Identity

The teaching of medical history, once central to medical education, has been progressively displaced by science- and competency-focused curricula. In anesthesiology, despite the presence of historical scholarship and institutional resources, the history of this specialty is rarely used as a formal educational tool. This narrative review explores how historical narratives can support the development of professionalism and professional identity in anesthesia training. An exploratory search of the literature revealed no prior studies explicitly linking anesthesia history to professional identity formation, underscoring a gap in current scholarship. Drawing on the foundational literature in medical education and selected historical examples, including figures such as Crawford Long, Henry Beecher, and Virginia Apgar, this review illustrates how reflective engagement with historical episodes can deepen ethical awareness, foster identity formation, and contextualize the evolving role of the anesthesiologist. It proposes a theoretical framework and strategies for integrating historical content into anesthesia curricula and argues that historical reflection can complement existing methods for teaching professionalism. The history of anesthesia, when purposefully employed, offers a powerful means to humanize training, support critical reflection, and better prepare trainees for the ethical and professional challenges of contemporary practice.