Polyhydramnios: threat of a handicapped child.

illness and to answer the initial anxious questions as well as they can at this early stage of investigation. All those small but essential details are the houseman's lot. House surgeons assist at their patients' operations and perform a few operations under supervision, such as appendicectomies and stripping varicose veins. They also have their own operating list for minor operations such as the removal of lumps in the skin. The senior house officer, registrar, or senior registrar is soon on the scene to check the houseman's findings, to agree initial treatment, to work out a strategy of investigation before the consultant's next visit, or to phone him to discuss the situation when matters cannot or should not wait. Housemen work long hours, but shorter than they did; soon they will not be permitted to be on first or second call for a total of more than 80 hours a week. Shifts are not worked as they are in many countries. The week is five days long for a start and is likely to include one night first on call for emergency admissions and one second on call. When first on call the houseman may be up for most of the night, but this gives no dispensation from the next day's work. One half day is supposed to be free for study or relaxation. One weekend in three the houseman lives in on first or second call. Two weeks' holiday are allowed in each six month post. When two house jobs have been completed satisfactorily, as they almost invariably are, the first period of a doctor's training is complete and he or she can apply for registration with the General Medical Council. Now the first career decisions must be made.