In opening the 3rd International Conference on Pharmaceutical Competence Professor The Honourable Peter Baume spoke on the subject of the global health professional and, in his usual entertaining and provocative style, predicted the demise of tertiary education institutions as we presently know them and the rise of interactive learning through Inter‐or intranets. And while he did not discuss in any detail other aspects oflife in the global village he certainly identified the fact that practice for the health professional would undergo far‐reaching and fundamental change.