The Interdisciplinary Generalist Curriculum (IGC) project: an overview of its experience and outcomes

The Interdisciplinary Generalist Curriculum (IGC) Project was a competitive, seven-year demonstration project funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). It was established to determine whether specific interdisciplinary innovations in preclinical medical school curricula could affect students' selection of careers in family medicine, general internal medicine, or general pediatrics. Through collaboration among the three generalist disciplines, the IGC innovation exposed all preclinical students in ten demonstration schools to a new or significantly enhanced preclinical curriculum that included a direct supervised clinical experience with a generalist physician preceptor. The project was managed by an interdisciplinary executive committee that was codirected by one representative each from family medicine, general internal medicine, and general pediatrics. A national advisory committee with representation from the academic and professional organizations of family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, and osteopathy provided input to the executive committee in guiding the project. The project was externally evaluated. Major outcomes of the IGC Project include sustained curricular changes in ten institutions, prompted by relatively few dollars and demonstration of models for collaboration at institutional and national levels. This supplement describes the IGC Project's experience and outcomes so that others may draw pertinent information to apply to their own efforts in medical education.