Development of an Integrated 6-Year Preventive Medicine Curriculum for Medical Students in Korea: An Expert-informed...

In Korea, preventive medicine education has remained fragmented across the undergraduate curriculum, with limited longitudinal continuity and increasing pressure to incorporate population health, healthcare systems, community practice, planetary health, and digital health. This study aimed to develop an integrated 6-year preventive medicine curriculum for medical students that would support health promotion, disease prevention, and social accountability at the individual and population levels. We conducted an expert-informed deliberative curriculum development study framed by Walker's deliberative (naturalistic) model and supplemented by Kern's 6-step approach. The development process comprised a literature review and planning activities, 2 curriculum development workshops, 2 structured group deliberation sessions with preventive medicine faculty leaders, small-group meetings, a confirmation workshop, and signature-course development meetings. Development records and curriculum artifacts generated through this process were subjected to descriptive synthesis. The final curriculum specified 1 educational purpose, 4 educational objectives, 7 competencies, 5 curricular domains, 3 learning levels, 102 instructional hours, Foundational and Applied course labels, 6 signature courses, and instructional guidebooks. It arranges healthcare systems, determinants of health and disease, planetary health, community-based preventive medicine practice, and complex health matters along a progression from foundational concepts to advanced integrative application. Expert deliberation refined course terminology, clarified learning progression and course placement, and identified issues relevant to anticipated implementation feasibility. The proposed curriculum positions preventive medicine as a longitudinal, spiral, competency-linked component of undergraduate medical education. As a national reference framework, it is intended to help future physicians connect evidence, systems, communities, and emerging public health challenges with proactive health promotion and disease prevention.