Education and training opportunities in trauma and orthopaedics in SE Thames Region.

In preparation for the introduction of the specialist registrar grade the specialist advisory committee (SAC) in orthopaedics developed a six-year structured training programme leading to the award of the Certificate of Completion of Specialist Training (CCST). A team comprising the regional adviser in orthopaedics, the two regional programme directors and an associate dean of postgraduate medicine visited all the departments of orthopaedics in the South East Thames Region in order to evaluate the training opportunities they provided. This paper describes the methodology used during these visits, the lessons learned and the conclusions drawn.