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This program was based on the American model for training Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists.3,4In 1973, the National Assembly enacted Medical Law Article 56, which created the professional system under which CRNAs would practice. In the following years, a total of 13 hospitals offered CRNA training programs nationwide. Sr Kollmer led the effort to create the Korean Association of Nurse Anesthetists (KANA), which was chartered in 1979. She and other pioneer Korean CRNAs established the first graduate-level nurse anesthesia program in South Korea.3,4The revised Medical Service Act of 2003 recognized CRNAs as 1 of 4 advanced practice nurses in South Korea.3,7 This recognition was quickly followed by a move toward university-based CRNA master’s pro-grams. By 2005, the Korean Accreditation Board of Nursing began administering the National Certification Examination for CRNAs.5,8 Since 1990 KANA has con-tinued to help set the standards for international nurse anesthesia practice as a member of the International Federation of Nurse Anesthetists.aIn 2013, there were 13 recognized advanced nursing practices in South Korea. More than 800 students study at 105 separate institutions in graduate-level programs ranging from gerontology and oncology to pediatrics and public health.8 Although most other advanced practice graduate programs increased in number, university-based training programs for CRNAs have decreased. In 2015 only one university-based advanced practice CRNA program remained in operation and graduated fewer than 10 new CRNAs each year.2,9Much like CRNAs in the United States, South Korean nurse anesthesia providers must contend with inter-professional conflict.10,11 Anesthesiologists, seeking to preserve their authority and guard professional bound-aries, create barriers to CRNA practice. According to a 2013 study, 53% of CRNAs in South Korea worked at medical facilities where anesthesiologists were employed, whereas 47% worked at facilities without anesthesiolo-gists.7 This interprofessional conflict creates a dilemma for the South Korean healthcare industry. In South Korea, a country of 50 million people, there are only4,824 anesthesiologists and 619 CRNAs,7 an insufficient number to provide needed access to anesthesia services. To meet the demand for anesthesia service, anesthesiolo-gists and hospitals train registered nurses to help extend the practice of anesthesia providers.Because there is no certifying body for ARNs and training is conducted by multiple institutions throughout the country, it is difficult to ascertain the exact number now practicing. There are no published numbers, and KANA was not able to provide a -.These ARNs are trained to work under direct supervi-sion by the anesthesiologists who provide the training.