Generalist courses in US medical schools and their relationship to career choice

We conducted a survey of required first-year generalist courses offered by US medical schools during 1980, 1985, and 1990 to see if significant growth had occurred in this curricular area and to determine if the presence of these courses was associated with an increase in the percent of graduates selecting family practice as a career option. During the 1980s, only two types of generalist courses were offered by more than 50% of US medical schools, clinical experience and human behavior/psychiatry courses, with significant growth occurring in only two types of generalist courses, ethics and medical humanities courses. The presence of a required clinical experience course in 1985 was associated with a 2% increase in the number of graduates selecting family practice as a career option in 1988.