These findings underscore a priority for developing programmes which effectively reduce threats and violence against trainees and which lessen the psychological sequelae of these incidents.

Objectives The primary purpose was to determine the prevalence of various types of threats or assaults by patients against training physicians and to determine the psychological impact of the most distressing incidents. Differences between specialty of training and gender were examined.Design An anonymous mailed questionnaire.Setting The Medical School of the University of Auckland, New Zealand.Subjects All 160 postgraduate trainees in psychiatry, general medicine, surgery, and obstetrics and gynaecology. A response rate of 84% (n 135) was obtained.Violence against training physicians · J Coverdale et al.