Unfortunately the version of ‘Criteria for Consultant Posts in Psychiatry’ which appeared in the August 1986 Bulletin was out of date. The version agreed in 1985, which coincides with that included in the JCHPT Handbook 1985, and which is currently circulated to Assessors on Advisory Appointment Committees, is as to follows:

1. Before appointment to a Consultant post, whether in general psychiatry or one of the other psychiatric special ties, a candidate should normally have undertaken a basic training in psychiatry and hold the MRCPsych or equivalent qualification. If there is an outstanding candidate, or circumstances are highly exceptional, other relevant qualifications and experience may constitute an acceptable alternative.

2. The successful candidate should normally have reached the age of 32, but there is no bar to the appointment of younger applicants.

3. Due weight should be attached to breadth of experience, participation in organised rotation schemes, periods spent abroad in relevant posts, and work in medical fieldsallied to psychiatry.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists is the only Royal College which allows its trainees to take an active role in decision making and determining policy. Its origins can be dated from 1973 when, after pressure by the Association of Psychiatrists in Training, a Trainees' Working Party was formed. This was a sub-committee of the Education Committee and allowed for some input by trainees on matters specifically related to training. In 1979, this working party was disbanded and replaced by the Collegiate Trainees' Committee, which is a Special Committee of Council and is directly responsible to it. Since its inception, the CTC has gradually increased its representation within the College so that it now has at least one trainee on every committee of the College except the Court of Electors. We therefore have an opportunity to comment on all issues of relevance to trainees and to psychiatry as a whole.

This is considered to be one of the foremost academic distinctions in psychiatry. The Prize, value £500, is awarded on the results of an annual examination, which will be held next in May/June 1987. Candidates should be qualified medical officers with a minimum of two years' service in mental hospitals or clinics in psychiatry in the United Kingdom or elsewhere in the British Commonwealth; they should be between 23 and 35 years of age and possess the MRCPsych or any other degree or diploma in psychological medicine.