In an era where management training is vital for any would-be consultant, the Kings Fund training course for senior registrars is the best known and most expensive. Examining it critically, we feel that despite its flaws it is still worth the extra money both for its wealth of practical exercises and for the unique, although not very reassuring, glimpse it affords us of management ideology at source. Local courses, although unable to reproduce the atmosphere, could benefit from its practical emphasis.