The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) convened a multidisciplinary group of experts to share their insights about the learning objectives and educational experiences that they would recommend for the training of future physicians about bioterrorism. The expert panel broadened the scope of their discussion beyond bioterrorism to include other potential weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Their deliberations identified medical student competencies that should prepare students to identify and response specifically to WMD incidents. The panel agreed that an integral component of the curriculum should focus on physicians' interactions with the public health system to help facilitate effective and coordinated medical and public health response to WMD and to more common threats to health. Panelists acknowledged that better coordination between medicine and public health would improve the management of public health challenges ranging from food-borne illnesses to natural disasters to infectious diseases. They recognized that in the absence of WMD incidents, conventional public health threats help "drill" the coordinated health systems that are central to an effective medical and public health response in the event of a WMD incident. Panelists also concluded that medical students should be taught to adopt a life-long learning perspective with regard to this subject. (SLD)