Medical education: meeting the challenge of implementing primary health care in sub-Saharan Africa.

Medical education in sub-Saharan Africa must be defined by its health needs and the health care services required. The sociodemographic milieu that determines the disease pattern makes a compelling case for primary health care in the context of community participation and multisector community development as the driver of a plan for medical education, in tandem with clinicians' role in continuity of care. Such ideas have been derived from the experience of planning for undergraduate medical education at the Aga Khan University Medical College, Nairobi, whose curriculum incorporates broad-based general education and liberal arts principles.