may as well put in my 2 cents seeing as I started the thread.....
I have often heard it say that "you can train a monkey to operate". In my view, this statement is pointing out that when it comes to managing a surgical patient, the actual operation is the least important aspect. What is most important is knowing which operation to do, or more importantly, when to do no operation at all.
Unfortunately, governments have taken this saying a bit literally and are going to get the monkeys to do the operating. At the end of the day, governments are responsible to the people (is that a bit idealistic???), and the people can have whatever they want. I think the medical profession has to educate the people about what is happening, so that these measures are not introduced by stealth. If the general public are then happy to be operated on by monkeys, who I am to stand in their way.
But I suspect they are not - there was a study in BMJ (sorry, can't remember the exact reference), where a survey was done on patients attending NHS podiatrists. 95% of them did not realise that they weren't seeing someone who is medically trained.
And before I get off my soapbox, one final point. It has been said many times (not just by posters in this thread) that it is unnecessary for specialists to learn things that aren't relevant to their specialty. I am involved with medical student training, and I am often asked 'what do I need to know'. My answer is usually that you don't need to know anything if you don't want - you are free to go sit on a beach if you want. It comes down to whether you want an education, or just training (in which case, medicine should be made a TAFE or tech college course, not a uni course).
Why does someone who is destined to be a doctor need to learn Shakespeare, Latin, WWII history or calculus at school? - it is called an education......