Family medicine curriculum resource project: overview

Abstract

In 2000, the Health Resources and Services Administration, in the interest of fostering curriculum reform in medical schools, awarded a 4-year contract to the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine to develop a curricular resource. The contract directed development of a multi-part resource aimed at (1) preclerkship prerequisites for third-year clerkships in collaboration with internal medicine and pediatrics, (2) the family medicine clerkship, (3) post-clerkship preparation for residency training, and (4) specific special topic areas of importance to the government. The Family Medicine Curriculum Resource (FMCR) was produced by primary care educators, with day-to-day direction from an executive committee and overall oversight by an advisory committee. The FMCR was built around a theoretical framework to link medical student competencies with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) competencies for residency training. Considerable energy throughout development of the FMCR was devoted to obtaining input from potential end-user audiences through an active dissemination effort.