[Medical education: 'plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose'].

Medical curricula are being overhauled at increasingly short intervals. Fashion is one of the driving forces behind the changes, sometimes at the expense of reason. There is no scientific proof that one type of curriculum produces better doctors than an other. A caring and humanistic attitude in physicians is probably less dependent on specific training than on innate personality traits and the example of role models. The Dutch Journal of Medicine is launching two initiatives intended to contribute to the education of medical students: an almost free subscription is offered after the first year, and a (quarterly) student edition will appear from 1998.