The psychiatric resident in 1961 is more likely to be male, older, have a larger family, and a much larger income than his counterpart in 1950. His training is more varied and intense and he is better satisfied with it. He is more apt to encounter an eclectic orientation and to be more interested in research, especially psychotherapy research. Five functional aspects of training programs are validated as correlating with resident satisfaction: effectiveness of orientation, quality of staff, emphasis on community aspects of psychiatry, stability of the program, and quality of teaching. Only two discrete training program components can be so validated: research opportunity if interested and satisfaction with interview technique training.Abstract Teaser