Commentary: Health systems and health policy: a curriculum for all medical students

A companion article in this issue of Academic Medicine provides an example of a method for electively integrating health systems and health policy issues into medical education. However, a curriculum in health systems and health policy is crucial to the education of all future physicians and other health professionals. The Clinical Prevention and Population Health Curriculum Framework of the Healthy People Curriculum Task Force has recently recommended a health systems and health policy curriculum that includes the domains of organization of clinical and public health systems; health services financing; health workforce; and health policy process. The curriculum should commence prior to year three and continue in years three and four so that students have a framework for integrating and subsequently sharing their experiences. Current Liaison Committee on Medical Education data indicate that on average less than 70% of medical schools require any curriculum in these four domains and only 40% of medical schools include all four of these domains in their required curriculum. Incorporation all of these domains into well-defined, required curricula that are broad in scope has the potential to change the attitudes of future clinicians toward efforts to control costs, collaborate with other health professions, and influence health policies.