For several years now, the training programme in genitourinary medicine (GUM) in the United Kingdom has followed a well trodden path, and existing specialist registrars (SpRs) will continue on the current programme. However, change is afoot. The Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board (PMETB) assumed responsibility for specialist training from September 2005. An immediate effect has been the revision of the GUM curriculum so that there is more transparency in the training requirements. The curriculum describes the essential or core requirements needed by all GUM physicians who wish to practise as consultants in the United Kingdom. The existing basic specialist training and higher specialist training curricula, in use since 1999, provided a foundation. The content of the curriculum and the teaching/learning methods described were chosen by the Specialist Advisory Committee (SAC) in Genitourinary Medicine. Regular meetings were held by the SAC involving all relevant stakeholders (guidance was given by the Joint Committee on Higher Medical Training (JCHMT) and officials from PMETB). …