Anaesthetics training in the United States

The beauty of the supervision that British doctors receive is that, as a senior registrar, I do not have to get a consultant to hold my hand if I do a dilatation and curettage in the middle of the night, but someone is available for telephone advice or to come in and help if necessary. To suggest that the quality of consultant training in Britain could be maintained with an abbreviated course is nonsense and plays into the hands of the "trained monkey" brigade, which British anaesthesia has done so much to combat.