Integrating the primary health care approach into a medical curriculum: a programme logic model

Primary health care (PHC) is an equity-driven approach to health care that formed the foundation of South African national health policy under the new democratic government in 1994. In August 1994 the Faculty of Medicine (later renamed the Faculty of Health Sciences) at the University of Cape Town (UCT) adopted a policy on the PHC approach in order to equip its graduates with the values and skills necessary to meet the changing demands of the new national health system. This policy committed the Faculty to make the PHC approach central to its teaching, research, clinical service, and engagement with communities.