The Integrated Medical Curriculum

It is increasingly recognised that the medical education curriculum should re-integrate basic sciences and clinical disciplines. This would enhance students' ability to integrate previous and future learning, link theory and professional standards to practice, and adapt to change. However, despite growing recommendations from bodies such as the British and Australian medical councils (the AMC and BMC) and the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) in North America, some medical schools remain to be convinced to adopt fully integrated curricula. This book aims to address this situation. It examines the nature of integration in learning, the history of the integrated medical curriculum, examples of integration practice and its benefits, and pitfalls to be avoided during implementation of an integrated curriculum. It then presents and analyses four detailed case studies of integrated courses or curricula. The Integrated Medical Curriculum is a key text for medical educators who wish to improve their curricula, their separate courses or even their individual teaching skills, as well as for curriculum specialists and practitioners.