The landscape of training in child psychiatry is changing fast. In recent years the content of theory and practice within the discipline has evolved rapidly and the latest Royal College guidelines for higher training (Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1995) show a daunting array of training areas to be encompassed in four years or less. The Caiman proposals (Department of Health, 1993) will abbreviate and so inevitably further intensify postgraduate training in the speciality. We argue in this paper that the fact of entering such an intensive training at the level of senior registrar can, under certain circumstances, create barriers to learning. We describe the efforts of trainees, consultants/trainers and scheme coordinators to adapt to these difficulties as they arise.