Chris Bain is a specialist anaesthetist (Fellow of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists, ANZCA) and lecturer in the Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine at The Alfred Hospital and Monash University.   He completed his medical degree at The University of Otago (NZ, 1996). To gain broader clinical experience Chris moved to Melbourne in 1998 where he worked as a resident medical officer at the Royal Melbourne Hospital.  In 1999 he commenced training as an anaesthetist at The Alfred Hospital.   In his final year of training (provisional fellowship) he was able to focus on cardiothoracic anaesthesia at The Alfred and Geelong Hospitals.   He was awarded his fellowship in early 2004, and was employed as a cardiothoracic anaesthetist at The Royal Infirmary (Edinburgh, Scotland).   

In 2005 Chris returned to The Alfred Hospital.   His experience covers all areas of anaesthesia related to complex adult cardiothoracic surgery, thoracic (heart and lung) transplantation and mechanical circulatory assistance. He is credentialed by examination in perioperative transoesophageal echocardiography (PTEeXAM) through the National Board of Echocardiography (USA).  He prepared and presented the echocardiography “quiz” at the ANZCA Cardiovascular and Perfusion Special Interest Group Biannual conferences in 2011 and 2013, and continues to teach, lecture and review intraoperative echocardiography at the Alfred Hospital.

In addition to his clinical practice, Chris is passionate about the quality and safety of anaesthesia.  Since 2009 has been a council member of the Victorian Consultative Council on Anaesthetic Mortality and Morbidity (VCCAMM), the council within the Department of Health and Human Services that is responsible for identifying avoidable causes of morbidity or mortality related to anaesthesia.  This position requires that he regularly review confidential reports related to anaesthesia, and provide assistance to the chairperson of the council in the preparation of information to disseminate to anaesthetists in the community related to the safe practice of anaesthesia.

From an educational perspective Chris coordinates the Monash University Master of Medicine in Perioperative Medicine (POM5003 Organ dysfunction 1) unit that covers the management and optimisation of chronic diseases during the perioperative period.  This role has allowed him to teach post graduate doctors evidence based clinical practice in perioperative medicine.   Chris is a keen educator and researcher in a new and evolving medical field known as perioperative genomics.   His research aims to improve the quality of perioperative care by utilising genomic technology to more precisely predict how the body responds to anaesthesia and surgery.    An ANZCA project grant currently funds Chris’s research in this area.   He works in close collaboration with scientists in the Genomics and Systems Biology Laboratory at The Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute.   He has recently published a review article and a book chapter.