The importance of context in the implementation of a new curriculum.

Most accounts of the introduction of new clinical curricula concern themselves exclusively with a description of the new curriculum and its consequences. This article addresses additionally the questions and problems associated with the implementation of a new curriculum at the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine. The main problem was the failure of the planners to communicate effectively to students and teachers the structure and function of the new curriculum. Nevertheless, the school is solving its problems and is finding its own preferred and acceptable ways of putting the curriculum into practice.