Learning general practice--the experience of one trainee.

I report my experiences in learning general practice as a vocational trainee with 12 months divided between two general practices at the end of a three-year course. A parallel between developmental milestones and a trainee's educational development is drawn and the reasons which brought patients to me as a trainee are analysed.I suggest the trainee year should be a dynamic time of learning and that trainees should be in an educational environment including progressively less authority. The trainer/trainee relationship, like the doctor/patient relationship, is all important.