----- Original Message -----
From: "Robbie Coull"
> ATLS and ALS should therefore be viewed as a minimum entrance requirement
> for team members, which brings us back to the idea that these courses
should
> be part of the undergraduate curriculum.
In a perfect world Robbie... But we just can't afford to let all our SHOs do
a full ATLS and a full ALS course in the time available, and they themselves
tend to select career oriented courses, e.g. MRCP courses and the like, with
their limited funds. But I don't find our SHOs particularly lacking in a
trauma situation when it's being run by a few seniors and middle-grades. Put
another way, I question the value of routinely training a first year SHO how
to lead a trauma, when you then bring them back to work and they never get
near running these cases anyway. It does strike me as odd that as we are
gradually making our specialty more senior based, some of our resus courses
are gravitating in the opposite direction! Perhaps there could be a less
advanced course for undergraduates as you point out (provider), and save the
ATLS level for those who might realistically take charge in a trauma case
(leader).
Adrian Fogarty
P.S. The guy you mention was Raby I think. He together with de Lacey and
Berman wrote the book you mention. They now run the course in Northwick Park
Hospital in London, where de Lacey works. Raby might be in Cambridge now but
I'm not sure about that. Still, they're all radiologists so it will be
interesting to see how Steve's course compares, run more by emergency
physicians.
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