A programme of teaching in the behavioural sciences at a new medical school in Ghana is described. Students are introduced to problems in their first year and these are used as a means of working in small groups, for self-directed learning and the collection of data. The course continues for 5 years and leads on to a residential posting at a psychiatric hospital, and embodies a close association between 'clinical' medicine and psychological medicine. The programme has only been running for 2 years and so an adequate objective evaluation cannot yet be made, but judged subjectively it is enjoyed by students.