Transforming the professional culture of a medical school from the inside out

Since 2003, Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) has undertaken an unique and courageous experiment—the Relationship-centered Care Initiative (RCCI) ¹ , a four-year effort to initiate self-sustaining culture change throughout the entire medical school. The intent was to foster widespread reflection on, and mindfulness of, the values being conveyed in everyday personal interactions and organizational behavior. The goal was to cultivate a social and professional learning environment (the informal curriculum) that consistently reinforced and exemplified the values and principles of the competency-based formal curriculum in the domains of professionalism, communication, ethics and self-awareness.