A computerized representation of a medical school curriculum: integration of relational and text management software in database design.

We describe the development of a computer-based representation of the medical school curriculum at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH). Over the past seven years the Medical School's Office of Academic Affairs has employed both relational database and text management software to design an integrated curriculum database system. Depending on the function selected--exploring the curriculum, searching through course outlines, retrieving elective descriptions, identifying teaching faculty, or searching for specific topics--either text management or relational database management routines are activated in a manner transparent to the user. Initial evaluation of the system has been positive but highlights the need for a more robust biomedical language for use as a controlled vocabulary to index content. Efforts are now underway, with support from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), to engage other interested schools in the U.S. and Canada in collaborating on further development of a system.