. . . but now what? Some unresolved problems of training for general practice.

WILLIAM Pickles died over 20 years ago in 1969. Nevertheless it is not difficult to get a clear idea of the sort of man and doctor that Pickles was. His concern for his patients and his enthusiasm for research and learning shine through the pages of his writings, and his life has been sensitively portrayed for us by John Pemberton.I His achievements over the years were great particularly his contributions to understanding the epidemiology and infectivity of Bornholm disease, dysentery, influenza and infectious hepatitis. He was the first president of the Royal College of General Practitioners and was one of those who guided it through its difficult early years. There is one particular aspect of the life and work of William Pickles that I wish to emphasize as an underlying theme. It is relevant to all of us as general practitioners whether in rural practice or congested inner city, whether practising in the first half of this century as Pickles did, or towards the end of it as we do today. It relates to his ability to learn as nmuch as possible from the things that were closest to hand. His lessons were learned from the commonplace he recognized the importance of what most of us would overlook. In the first James Mackenzie lecture,2 which he delivered in November 1954, he described 'the simple things, everday happenings and elementary deductions drawn from them. His remarks were about research into infectijos diseases in general practice but I wish to apply them to our system of medical education. What are the lessons that we can learn from close to home about our present arrangements for education and training for general practice? What are the problems and difficulties that are so commonplace that they tend to be overlooked, and their solutions disregarded?