Several years ago the faculty of the University of Arkansas College of Medicine redesigned their approach to teaching the basic neural sciences by integrating them into a freshman-level neuroscience course. The primary goal of the course was to provide students with basic science information for application in solving clinical problems. This paper contains a description of the course design, and describes several major instructional techniques including a comprehensive course manual, the use of television in both laboratory and lecture, and the use of the clinical examination as a positive motivational tool. Also, a student-based program evaluation process is detailed. (Author)