An Evaluation of the Undergraduate Medical Curriculum: The Kentucky Experiment in Community Medicine

The Department of Community Medicine, established in 1960, at the new University of Kentucky College of Medicine developed a major curriculum innovation that consisted of a required six-week community-based clerkship and an elective international cross-cultural clerkship for fourth-year medical students. It was recognized from the outset that the importance of the program would have to be assessed after a number of years. A questionnaire was sent to graduates of the classes 1964 to 1968. There was a response rate of 85%. Seventy percent of respondents reported the program had an impact on their professional careers. To our knowledge, no similar study highlighting the impact of major curriculum innovation on long-term outcome has been reported.(JAMA 241:2726-2730, 1979)