Comparing health care delivery systems - initiating a student exchange project between Europe and the United States

Background Cross-cultural contact among different health care systems can p rovide a framework for identifying the strengths and weaknesses of one's ow n healthcare system. However, such contact has rarely had much impact upon medical education curricula. Despite intense debate on reforming the health care delivery systems (HCDS) in Europe and the United States, there is very little formal representation of this interdisciplinary field in our educat ional programs. Description To address this problem, a medical student exchange program was conducted in which students developed case studies that produced comparati ve analyses of HCDS in Germany, Sweden, Denmark and the United States. Each case is intended to highlight critical differences among the systems. Evaluation Students and their faculty preceptors completed pre- and post-ex change questionnaires to assess perceived knowledge of the HCDS and the ade quacy of time devoted to it in their curricula. Both perceived that too lit tle attention was devoted to this content in their programs. Following the exchange, students described clear increases in perceived knowledge. Discussion Our common interest in curriculum reform was key to implementing the exchange. The written cases generated by the students are being develo ped as course material in some of the schools and a conference is planned t o disseminate the cases and the implementation strategies for their inclusi on in medical curricula.