Training and education: what is in it for the trainees?

The history of medical education and training has constantly recognised the need for formal and structured training programmes. In spite of this it is only in the 1990s that moves have been made to properly address this problem. In the end it has been the reduction of trainees' hours that has made us stand up and look at how to provide ‘specialist’ training. This review looks at past and present practices for training and is supported by the views of recent trainees. The future is radically different to the past but it remains to be seen whether it is better.