Medical training in Belgium: a year in Brussels.

Much of the internal debate on medical training relates to education in posts, progression into speciality subjects and to the workload ofjunior staff, the latter now accepted to be excessive in many cases. Little general information is available concerning training in other countries, making it difficult to offer constructive criticism, on a comparative basis. The European Exchange scheme,' run between five London centres and their counterparts in Europe, offers exchange possibilities for up to a year in general medical specialities and allows direct experience of such systems. In my case my Belgian host institution, Cliniques Universitaires St. Luc, Brussels, has several differences in training from our British system. The hospital forms part of the University of Louvin, and is one of the major Belgian teaching centres.