The Federated Council of Internal Medicine's resource guide for residency education: an instrument for curricular change.

The Federated Council of Internal Medicine has developed a resource guide to help internal medicine residency programs produce internists who are prepared for today's practice of internal medicine and the challenges of practice in the future. The guide situates general internal medicine as the primary care profession that focuses on preventive, short-term, and long-term care of adult patients. It assumes that a single pathway is sufficient for educating general internists and subspecialty-bound trainees. It identifies the learning experiences that should be part of general internal medicine residency training, lists the clinical competencies that are important for primary care practice, and describes the role of the integrative disciplines that should inform the care of every patient. It also describes a process that program directors and local program committees can use to develop competency-based curricula.