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Are trust doctors the new lost tribe?Editor-The number of trust doctors (doctors in non-training grades) in the United Kingdom is rising as trusts try to meet both service and hours requirements and are unable to employ more doctors in training.The Department of Health has no code for trust doctors so its annual census cannot show how many there are.We surveyed the human resource departments in each acute trust in Yorkshire by postal questionnaire; nine out of 10 replied.We found that the number of trust doctor posts has increased at least fivefold over the past four years, and the current number will more than double in the near future on the basis of trusts' stated plans (figure).We sent separate questionnaires to 63 of a sample of 81 trust doctors in the region; 36 (57%) replied.They were asked questions about educational provision and supervision, reasons for being in the post, previous clinical experience, career aspirations, work patterns, and pay.With regard to education and training, 16 trust doctors reported that they had an educational supervisor and only six had appraisals.Although 32 trust doctors had been granted study leave, only 25 received funding for this.Surprisingly, 15 trust doctors rated their work as equivalent to that of a senior house officer and 21 as equivalent to a specialist registrar.Most of the doctors were United Kingdom graduates ( 16), with eight being from the Indian subcontinent, five from Africa and the Middle East, and one from the European Economic Area.The most common career aim was a consultant post in the United Kingdom (21 doctors), and the main reasons for taking a post as a trust doctor were as a "stop gap" or to gain