In 2003 The National Board of Health, Denmark, enforced a compulsory training course in academic research as part of the specialist training for doctors. The trainees must learn to search and evaluate relevant literature and be able to implement the results in clinical practice. The structure of the 20 days of academic training in gynaecology and obstetrics is described. In 2008, 17 doctors participated in these sessions. We performed a questionnaire survey to explore the implementation. The academic training was well rated by the participants with respect to content, form and outcome.