Sir:There may be benefit in the approval and funding of pre-registration posts in specialities other than general medicine and surgery. Indeed a number of posts in general practice have existed for some time.

A recent report by the Royal College of Physicians of London (2000), published on-line, describes “shortening formal training of medical students to four years, and extending pre-registration training to two years”, and that the “senior house officer grade should be better linked to opportunities for training in primary care”.

These suggestions may also be useful for psychiatric practice, where an increasing throughput of patients, and the need for senior house officer educational time, are putting pressure on services. A pre-registration period spent working in psychiatry should be of training value to those pursuing a career in many different specialities, and closer liaison with general practice in senior house officer training helped by the formation of primary care trusts.