A training programme in any postgraduate medical specialty, which includes otorhinolaryngology (ORL), is designed to ensure that a doctor progressing through that programme is competent to perform as an independent specialist within the healthcare system in which they work. It follows that the first goal to agree upon, when designing a programme, is the level at which competence should be set and what the scope of the competencies should be. A curriculum will then be written, agreed upon by stakeholders and published. A curriculum has the following areas of content: aims and objectives, content or syllabus, resources, assessment strategy, and evaluation. A clearly stated aim of a curriculum is required to ensure that it has the right content and assessment strategy. Once the primary aim of a curriculum is established, a syllabus then needs to be formulated that allows the delivery of curriculum objectives in a clear, unambiguous way.