A curricular model for the training of physician scientists: the evolution of the Duke University School of Medicine curriculum.

Duke University School of Medicine offers an unusual doctor of medicine educational program. The core basic sciences are taught in year one, core clinical clerkships are completed in the second year, the entire third year is devoted to scholarly investigation, and elective rotations are fulfilled in the fourth year. The creation of this unique structure presented many challenges and is the product of a desire of key faculty 40 years ago to change radically the way medical education was taught.