Meeting the challenge: providing anesthesia services in rural hospitals.

Although the volume and intensity of surgery done in rural hospitals are not sufficient to support a fully trained staff anesthetist, it is not practicable for all surgical, anesthesia and obstetric services to be provided by specialists in referral centres. As the study reported by Chiasson and Roy in this issue shows (see pages 1447 to 1452), general practitioners (GPs) with limited additional training in anesthesia already play an important role in the provision of these services in rural areas. To ensure that there is a continued supply of physicians prepared to meet the needs of small communities, funding and opportunities for supplemental training in surgery, anesthesia and obstetrics must be made available to GPs.