I agree with you about the aliases. They are not necessary...

But the shortcuts/abbreviations, I use all the time and actually do save a lot of time. When working in a large environment, such as an Enterprise with 6 Hospitals and 12 Medical Plazas, every bit of time-saving helps. Plus, I am very comfortable with IOS, so I know what I am typing out...

If someone is just starting out, then I would suggest typing out the whole command or using the TAB key just to ensure you are typing the correct command.