The establishment of the Primary Care Curriculum (PCC) at the UNM School of Medicine in 1979 forged a template for other national and international experiments in active, small-group learning. The innovative curriculum called for innovations in faculty development. The outcome--an experiential, interactive tutor training workshop--has served as a model of educational skills training for problem-based, student- centered learning in the health sciences. 

The success of the PCC led the World Health Organization to designate the UNM School of Medicine as a Collaborating Center for the Dissemination of Community-Oriented, Problem-Based Education. Health sciences faculty across the world visit UNM SOM to explore innovative approaches to teaching and learning. 

Innovations in faculty development have continued with the implementation of an integrated curriculum, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in March of 1992, to combine and extend the best features of PCC and the traditional curriculum into one curriculum.

In 1996, a Division of Educational Development and Research was created as part of the Office of Undergraduate Medical Education. This division, which combines the expertise and services of Teacher and Educational Development and the Office of Program Evaluation, Education and Research, is responsible for faculty development in education and for evaluation of all education programs for the School of Medicine.