(1) A Joint Working Party of the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Royal College of Psychiatrists prepared a report on training general practitioners in psychiatry in 1974. This was circulated to all regional advisers and course organisers and was published in 1978. Since that time, there have been advances in the treatment of patients with psychiatric disease and considerable change in the organisation of health care services which have resulted in an increasing proportion of psychiatrically ill people being cared for in the community rather than in the hospital setting. With these changes in mind, both Colleges felt that it would be appropriate to convene another joint working party to review the arrangements for the psychiatric component of vocational training for general practice. This report revises the objectives for training that were agreed in 1974 and makes recommendations for the organisation that will achieve them.