ABSTRACT
Political change affects how doctors work: the Patient’s Charter, the purchaser-provider split, and GP fundholding have all altered expectations of how health care is delivered. The Calman report, driven by European legislation, has resulted in the introduction of structured specialist training very different from the previous apprenticeship system, and is making very different demands
on trainers and trainees. Medicine has embraced the media; we are positively bombarded with information about health, disease and medical practice, sometimes accurate and useful, often sadly, wrong and harmful.
