The Broadening the Foundation Programme report has led to an expansion in the number of psychiatry foundation placements. This change will have far-reaching benefits for foundation doctors doing psychiatry, no matter what their future career intentions. Doctors will develop a better understanding of mental illness, they will improve their communication skills and they will gain experience of working within multidisciplinary teams. Recruitment into psychiatry is also likely to improve. The Royal College of Psychiatrists is putting in place a number of measures to ensure that placements are of a high quality so that foundation doctors have a good experience of psychiatry.