Burdened by training not by anaesthesia

Editor—Larsson and colleagues¹ have investigated importantbut often ignored aspects of anaesthetic practice. However,they imply that specialist anaesthetists experience reducedlevels of stress when compared with trainees because they havedeveloped successful coping mechanisms over the years. Thisconclusion cannot be drawn because the specialists' attitudesto work were identified at a particular time and cannot showa progression in learned coping abilities. To demonstrate thedevelopment of these skills, the specialists would have hadto be interviewed