The future catches up: a medical school curriculum in health economics.

Medical school curricula for too long have ignored the obvious and important changes in the economics and delivery of health care in the United States. Medical students, who become the practicing physicians of the future, and their patients have suffered because of this academic malaise. Most new physicians are even more confused than their patients about how to navigate outpatient managed care, how to practice efficiently (after being taught that more is better), and how to uphold their sacred trust with their patients in the context of institutionally based medicine. After summarizing relevant historical events, we discuss how we hope to begin making up for lost time by tackling the issue of necessary curriculum change at the University of Pennsylvania Health System.