Psychiatric Bulletin (2003) 27: 316. doi: 10.1192/pb.27.8.316-a
© 2003 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
Psychiatric Bulletin (2003) 27: 316
© 2003 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
Pre-registration posts in psychiatry
Philip Seager
Correspondence: pseager{at}btinternet.com
I was intrigued to read the article by Herzberg and colleagues about
pre-registration posts in psychiatry (Psychiatric Bulletin, 27,
192-194). It was I who established the Sheffield rotations in 1981, as
described by Jane ODwyer. It was a fortunate time because there were
extra house officers requiring posts, so two pairs of far-sighted physicians
and surgeons who had extra posts agreed to include the second one into the
experimental scheme of four monthly rotations in medicine, surgery and
psychiatry at the Northern General Hospital, Sheffield.
The issue that worried me about these rotations was that while many
psychiatrists praised the idea, no one ever copied it. I began to wonder
whether I had introduced a group of Sheffield graduates to a life fraught with
difficulties as they tried to live down the disgrace of their
pre-registration. Luckily, I have just received evidence to the contrary.
With six doctors a year for over 20 years, it is perhaps not statistically
surprising that on the day I received the Bulletin, I also received an
invitation to attend the Inaugural Lecture to be delivered by Professor Tony
Avery, Head of Division of Primary Care at the University of Nottingham. Tony
was in one of the earliest rotations.