A discussion of the McMaster University Doctor of Medicine program reviews key elements of its history and distinctive approach, describes the process and substance of curriculum change over the past decade, summarizes follow-up studies of graduates, and analyzes the current program context. (MSE)

The University of California, Los Angeles, medical school has developed and implemented, "Doctoring," a four-year interdisciplinary course sequence to prepare students to care for patients, families, and communities in a caring, humanistic, and competent manner. Each year has a special area of emphasis but with a cumulative approach to…

The Boston (Massachusetts) Institute for Health Improvement formed an Interdisciplinary Professional Education Cooperative linking four local interdisciplinary teams (in Cleveland; Washington, DC; Pennsylvania; and South Carolina) and a coordinating committee. The organization offers health professions students opportunities to work on…

Describes the first three years of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's six-year, $32-million grant program designed to help medical schools increase their production of generalist physicians. Outlines the program's conceptual bases, identifies common approaches to intervention in the 14 participating schools, and explores administrative and…

Describes strategies used by 10 academic medical centers to preserve missions in face of changing demands and declining resources. Strategies include balancing planning and opportunism, developing new approaches for faculty participation in governance, experimenting with organization of core functions, listening to the customer, aligning…

The choice of the Oregon Health Sciences University to change its status from public to private is discussed, focusing on the reasons for the change (decreased public funding, health care market competition, bureaucracy), the political process of building support for legislation, key features of restructuring, challenges faced, and lessons…

Medical, nursing, pharmacy, and dental education in West Virginia's state universities has undergone substantial changes since 1991, becoming more responsive to community needs. A primary-care, community-based academic system now involves students, faculty, health professionals, and lay community members in identifying and serving needs in…

Issues and difficulties in the management of formal affiliations between medical schools and managed health-care organizations are discussed, based on the experience of the Case Western Reserve University (Ohio) medical school and the Henry Ford Health System. Difficulties include differing institutional cultures, departmental authority over…

Describes the University of Florida medical school's curriculum-development efforts, including introduction of early clinical experience in primary-care settings, enhancement of small-group active learning, development of computer-based interactive materials, increased clinical teaching in ambulatory care, effective course and faculty evaluation,…