Research by senior registrars in psychiatry

All higher trainees in psychiatry are required to spend one day a week in research or further study. A cross-sectional postal survey was used to investigate how senior registrars use their allocated research time, and to identify specific difficulties that prevent successful research being carried out. The instigation of the specialist registrar grade offers the chance to improve trainees' involvement in research. This has implications for the design and implementation of postgraduate teaching on research in psychiatry.