[Traditional and non-traditional curricula. Definitions and terminology]

Differences between traditional (conventional) and innovative curricula are described. Technical terms are defined or explained. In traditional tracks, basic and clinical sciences are studied separately. The students meet the first patient after several years. The education is mainly discipline-, teacher-, lecture- and hospital-based. In innovative programmes, basic sciences are taught throughout the study parallel with clinical subjects (vertical integration), and subjects from related disciplines are often taught concurrently (horizontal integration). The students meet patients from the first day at the university, participate from the first week in courses in clinical skills, and, after some months, attend continuity clinics in the community. Teaching is student-directed, problem-based and/or community-oriented, with several electives. Many of the strategies above are also used in traditional curricula. The main difference between traditional and innovative curricula is whether basic and clinical sciences are vertically integrated or not.