THE UNIVERSITY-OF-MARYLAND EXPERIENCE IN INTEGRATING PREVENTIVE MEDICINE INTO THE CLINICAL MEDICINE CURRICULUM

Lifestyle risk factors play a major role in the etiology of premature mortality, morbidity, and disability in the United States. Numerous pr ofessional groups as well as the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service have recommended that increased attention be devoted to traini ng medical students and physicians to improve their knowledge and skil ls in health promotion and disease prevention. Such training is critic al for attaining many of the ''Healthy People 2000'' objectives. For a variety of reasons, however, most medical schools have had difficulty in successfully integrating preventive medicine into their clinical c urriculums. This article describes the critical elements that allowed the faculty at the University of Maryland School of Medicine to accomp lish this goal through its fourth year clinical preventive medicine co urse. The strategies employed in this course may serve as a model for other institutions to achieve the integration of preventive medicine i nto their clinical curriculums.