A view from Reykjavik

Abstract

[Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text] Iceland is a country with great natural beauty (Figure 1). Although it is small and relatively isolated (Figure 2), its cardiologists are starting to have international impact. The country has just 24 cardiologists, but with only 300 000 inhabitants, it has one of the highest ratios of specialiststo- population in the world. Most of these cardiologists are trained in the United States or Europe, since specialist training is not available in Iceland. Medical school training takes 6 years in Iceland, and this is followed by 2 years of house officer training as junior hospital staff. Then, at around 30 years of age, junior doctors go abroad for 5 to 10 years of specialist training.