Moving a graveyard: how one school prepared the way for continuous curriculum renewal

From 1991 to 1996, the faculty at the University of Florida College of Medicine initiated several significant changes in its curriculum. These changes, included the introduction of early clinical experience in primary care settings; the enhancement of active learning experiences in small-group settings; production and use of computer-based interactive learning materials; increased clinical teaching in the ambulatory care training in an interdisciplinary primary care clerkship; effective course and faculty evaluation; establishment and use of an assessment center for instruction and performance-based evaluations utilizing standardized patients; creation of a medical education center as the focal point for logistics support of the teaching faculty and education data handling; creation of a faculty development program; and initiation of mission-based budgeting based on the faculty's teaching effort and quality. Because the faculty were relatively conservative, it was important to identify variables that would facilitate the introduction of changes and those that might hinder it. The following factors were most important: interest and support by the dean and clearly defined delegation of authority to an associate dean; introduction of a mission-based budgeting process that allocates education funds on the basis of faculty teaching effort and its quality; a clear understanding of the empowerment of the curriculum committee; and an identification of the principles that should guide educational planning and implementation. These efforts are considered the beginning of the continuous renewal needed to respond to information networking, scientific and technological innovations, and the fundamental changes in health care delivery. As these changes have taken place, a shift toward greater institutional control of the educational program leading to the MD degree has been evident.