From the Editor's Desk

Abstract

It is often said that the only constant thing in the universe is change. That indeed also applies to our discipline family medicine. On 17 August 2007 regulations were promulgated making family medicine a medical specialty in South Africa, following on the example of many other countries. This has far reaching implications for the discipline, such as education and training, and for the delivery of health services in the private and public sectors. Since the publication of these regulations registrar training programmes had to be developed and accredited by the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), to be in time for the new academic year in 2008. Fortunately we could lean on the excellent groundwork done in the development of vocational training and masters programmes in family medicine over the previous two decades.