No time to train the surgeons: Summary of rapid responses

doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7448.1134-c

BMJ 2004;328:1134-1135 (8 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7448.1134-c

Letter

No time to train the surgeons

Summary of rapid responses

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—The 35 responses to the editorial by Chikwe etal overwhelmingly agree that surgeons' training in the UnitedKingdom has suffered under Calmanisation and will suffer morewhen the European Working Time Directive comes into force.¹Not all respondents find that the time invested in trainingis at issue (some reckon that the hours presented in the editorialdo not quite add up), being more concerned about the qualityof the training. Lost opportunities for training are highlighted,with programmes in other countries cited as effective.

Two anaesthetists emphasise that disciplines with clinical proceduresat their core require a different form of training than lessprocedure oriented clinical specialties and that the directivemakes shift systems the only option. A cardiothoracic surgeonfinds the current system not bad but the system for trainingcardiothoracic surgeons in the United States better. A consultantphysician in haematology and oncology agrees . . . [Full text of this article]

Birte Twisselmann, technical editor

BMJ