Anaesthetists are doctors
Editor - A recent MORI poll showed that a
high percentage of the British public (36$)
did not realise that anaesthetists are
doctors.1 But it was more worrying to see that
an NhS website reinforces this belief. FIhen
I recently did some research for someone
interested in a career in nursing I consulted
the NhS careers website. This states that, "As
a nurse you will need to know what to do,
and you need to know why you're doing
it. you will be part of a multidisciplinary
team that includes doctors, physiotherapists,
anaesthetists, pharmacists. . . ." 2
This is followed by the wonderfully
ironic comment, "So you will need to know
how these different people interlock." It is a
pity that the author has yet to attain such
knowledge.
Steve Cantellow, second year medical student, University of Southampton
Email: sc499@soton.ac.uk
studentBMJ 2001;09:171-216 June ISSN 0966-6494
- rcoa.ac.uk/Nadday/nadmoripoll.html (accessed 24 April 2001).
- nhscareers.nhs.uk/careers/nursing/adultn-involve.html (accessed 24 April 2001).
