[Oslo '96--how is it?]

A new, problem-based integrated medical curriculum was introduced in Oslo in August 1996. We asked both students and teachers how satisfied they were with the first semester; teachers were also asked what their expectations were of the new curriculum. We investigated the relationship between the students' evaluation of individual elements of the curriculum and their satisfaction with the group tutors and the semester as a whole. During the course of the first semester students (n = 127), tutors (n = 26), and lecturers (n = 28) responded to questionnaires (response rates 92-100%) by rating various elements of the curriculum on a five point scale. Overall, the semester was rated either "good" or "very good" by 79% of the students and 91% of the teachers. The students' degree of satisfaction with the semester correlated with their evaluation of subject content, subject integration, and the case histories used in problem solving. The students' degree of satisfaction with the group tutors correlated with their evaluation of the tutors' contributions to subject content and group interaction and the tutors' personal attitudes. The tutors themselves expected the new curriculum to produce better results than the old one in all respects except the students' knowledge of basic science.