A longitudinal primary care program in an urban public medical school: three years of experience.

The experience of the University of Illinois at Chicago's College of Medicine with implementing a pilot generalist program focuses on institutionalization and management. Various features of the program make it an interesting case study: It is inter-disciplinary, comprising pediatricians, general internists, and family practitioners; students join the program in the autumn of their first year; and it is changing from a voluntary to a required, institutionally ingrained course of study. The difficulties and procedures encountered in making room for an interdisciplinary primary care program in a traditional medical school curriculum are discussed.