• Training
• soft tissue
• musculoskeletal
• soft tissue injury

The recent changes in emergency medicine training have left me concerned at the lack of simple surgical skills that a fully trained doctor in the emergency department can expect to accumulate. Acute care common stem (ACCS) training provides limited opportunities for formal teaching in surgical techniques. Emergency medicine is the only component of ACCS that will provide any exposure to acute wounds and the surgical techniques used in their management.

With emergency departments becoming increasingly busy and the 4-hour target ruling all, it can be argued that the more senior doctors in the department have very limited time for teaching simple skills like suturing. A crystal ball …