Postgraduate medical education - A time of change for physicians

Increasing hospital admissions and staffing pressures mean that most medical registrars find their workload is now heavy or unmanageable. Core medical trainees increasingly think the role of medical registrar is too unattractive or difficult, resulting in less competition for such posts. In autumn 2013, the Future Hospital Commission and Shape of Training outlined their vision to reform postgraduate medical training to better meet the needs of older patients with multiple comorbidities. The Future Hospital Commission proposes that there is a greater emphasis on internal medicine from medical school, with expansion of training opportunities and service provision. Shape of Training recommends a six-year training programme culminating in a Certificate of Specialty Training. New initiatives, such as broad-based training, credentialing and rotas with more continuity, are potential ways to increase training in internal medicine. It is clear that training to achieve generalist expertise is as important as training to achieve specialist expertise.