It also describes the role of formal didactic programs for each type of rotation. The FCIM Task Force does not claim to provide empirically derived, tested formulas. Rather, the solutions illustrate how curriculum committees at different institutions might arrive at rational but different solutions to the same problem. No single solution is recommended by the FCIM Task Force. The resource guide provides a nationally derived, consensus-based core that identifies what all residents should learn, but it defers to local faculty with regard to decisions about how, where, and when that learning should take place.
Explicit recommendations do, however, appear at the conclusion of the resource guide.
These recommendations underscore the importance of curriculum in an era of change. The FCIM Task Force encourages programs to relocate training to ambulatory sites, develop curricula based on educational content rather than service requirements, emphasize the integrative disciplines, and enhance training in continuity practice. More broadly, the FCIM Task Force urges program directors to consider the practice requirements of the internists of tomorrow when making the curricular decisions of today. In its conclusion, the resource guide identifies several important challenges, including coordinating residency and medical student curricula, expanding programs for faculty development, developing better systems of evaluation, and securing the resources needed to set up a learning-centered residency program. To understand the resource guide, the reader must understand what the guide is not.