Training of non-psychiatrist medical professionals in psychiatry through short courses is an urgent need recognised by the National Mental Health Policy. In order to improve the training programmes over a time, a suitable method of evaluation of the effect of training is essential. Such a method of evaluation was developed at NIMHANS using clinical vignettes. These vignettes were successfully used in the I. C. M. R. Multi-centre Project of Training non-psychiatrist primary care doctors in 1982-83. This paper describes the effectiveness of the clinical vignettes as tools of evaluating short training programmes.