Setting the record straight on nurse anesthesia and medical anesthesiology education

The history, qualifications, capabilities, and legal status of nurse anesthetists in the United States have been perceived by organized anesthesiology as both a professional and economic threat to the medical specialty. Such threats often lead to turf battles in which groups try to seek public affirmation of their point of view through ongoing public and/or government relation debate and activism. Medicine, including anesthesiology, has used educational preparation of physician and nurse specialists as a favorite topic for such activism. In this nation's competitive environment, facts are often prone to distortion knowingly or unconsciously. This article is aimed at setting right the facts in the current debate used by the American Society of Anesthesiologists in regards to the comparative analysis of CRNA and anesthesiologist education. Because medicine most often uses length of education as a quality measure of that education, regardless of the validity of such arguments, this comparison is set within that framework. Unfortunately, it will not be the last work on this subject.