There are certain things that are not well taught at public health school. We focus on epidemiology and statistics until they are coming out of students' ears. Health economics, health services research, needs assessment and now health impact assessment have joined the toolkit along with a whole string of strategies, frameworks and concepts. The need for management expertise throughout health and healthcare systems has belatedly joined the emphasis on analysis and report writing on population health status; the recognition that when the epidemiology and situation analysis has been done, the real work is only just beginning. Yet it is unusual to prepare future practitioners for working under stress to short deadlines or “thinking on your feet”, as Professor Jerry Morris at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine described it to our …