The Department of Anaesthesiology, School of Medical Sciences, USM, was established in 1979 in Penang. During its early years, the department was managed by Dr. Richard Lobo (1979-1983), followed by Dr. Aswasthi (1984-1985). At that time, Penang General Hospital was selected as a teaching hospital for USM. Subsequently, in 1986, the department moved to the Health Campus along with the school.

Dr. Reddy (1986) served as the first Head of Department (HOD) at USM Kubang Kerian, followed by Dato Dr. Mohamed Hassan Mohamed Ariff (June 1987 - Oct 1989) and Dr. Aminuldin Abdul Ghani (1990-1995). Over the years, other individuals who have held the position of the head of department include Prof. Dr. Kamaruddin Jaalam (1996-1997), Prof. Dr. Nik Abdullah Nik Mohamad (1998-2007), Prof. Dr. Mahamarowi Omar (2008), Prof. Dr. Shamsul Kamalrujan Hassan (2009-2015), and Associate Prof. Dr. Saedah Ali (2016).

Currently, the department is under the leadership of Associate Prof. Dr. W. Mohd Nazaruddin W. Hassan, who assumed the role on 1 Jan 2017.