Pre-registration house surgeons. A questionnaire study of anaesthesia-related knowledge and approach to pre-operative investigations.

A group of newly qualified pre-registration House Officers completed a questionnaire relating to their knowledge of anaesthetic drugs and to their appreciation of complications which may, in whole or in part, have required some knowledge of anaesthesia. Considerable gaps in knowledge were demonstrable, not only in matters that might arguably be regarded as strictly within the province of anaesthesia, but also in respect of basic pharmacology. The same House Officers were also questioned as to the necessity for various basic pre-operative investigations prior to six everyday surgical procedures. This demonstrated a marked propensity for House Officers to overinvestigate patients as compared to the requirements of practising anaesthetists. The discrepancy was most marked with respect to pre-operative chest X rays. However, considerable disparity was also demonstrable amongst a group of experienced anaesthetists as to their requirements for pre-operative investigations. Permitting students greater exposure to anaesthesia in the undergraduate curriculum could go a long way towards improving this situation.