A scientific approach to the reform of a medical curriculum: A personal account of the Vienna experience

Planning and implementing a new curriculum at the Medical Faculty of the University of Vienna was a bold attempt to use a scientific approach. A curriculum of sequentially presented and departmentally controlled subject areas using oral examinations was replaced with horizontally and vertically integrated organ/function modules. The reform also introduced integrated written year-end examinations, a required research thesis, stronger clinical orientation starting already in the 1st semester and more elective components. The starting point, preparatory work, the legal framework, as well as the formal planning process from January 1998 until October 2001 are described and explained.