[Curriculum for additional advanced specialist training in psychotherapy--concept and initial experience in practice].

The regulations for advanced specialist training passed by the German Medical Council in May 2003 make it possible for any clinical physician to complete advanced training for "specialty-related psychotherapy". Critics see this as a "watering down" of medical psychotherapy. The majority applaud the greater proximity to practice and the possibility of achieving psychosomatic expertise. The new advanced specialist training regulations permit therapeutic interventions by the primary care physician beyond psychosomatic primary care. A curriculum has been developed in the Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy of the University Hospital Freiburg, which has completed the pilot phase and is now offered in block courses over a period of 2 years. We present here experience with the new concept and the results of the evaluation.