The challenge of health economics to medical education.

A restructuring of medical education and medical practice to include the dimensions of cost awareness is being urged by medical educators and the concerned medical profession. Educational programs alerting and sensitizing medical students and young physicians to the fiscal and economic consequences of medical practice are advocated with growing urgency. The framework, principles, and content of a long-term educational program covering the preclinical and clinical years are delineated. The proposed preclinical curriculum introduces the student to the general medical care concepts, the major trends confronting contemporary medical practice, the behavioral dimensions of providers and patients, and relationships between forms of clinical practice and cost-containment and quality of care. Clinical settings reinforcing cost-conscious medical pra ctice are proposed. Measures for evaluating the effects of the proposed curriculum are discussed.