Outpatient teaching is allocated more time in the formal eight-week paediatrics programme than any other activity. Students in residence are required to witness as many procedures as possible and to be as active as they can in helping house officers to look after children. Ward teaching is conducted on the understanding that students have done the background work. Other components of the course are seminars, which utilize MCQs; projects, to be completed by each student and presented to the rest of the firm; case conferences, which are difficult to organize and not very popular; sessions to improve communication, with videotaped recordings of interviews with simulated patients to encourage discussion. Students are asked to complete two questionnaires in order to provide feedback. They are graded on their performance during the attachment. There is also a formal clinical examination with both internal and external examinations at the end of their appointment.