The major goal of the project was to modify the competency-based medical curriculum of the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine so that essential competencies are identified and mechanisms are established to ensure that students not only learn but retain and integrate these competencies. The specific objectives of the Competency Maintenance Project were to: (1) design a blueprint for the system; (2) develop a strategy for identifying the critically important competencies to be reflected in the maintenance objectives; (3) determine the maintenance objectives for the first year of the program; (4) design and implement experimentally in one curriculum block a system for student rehearsal of maintenance competencies; and (5) design and implement experimentally a set of assessment procedures for retention of the first-year competencies. The accomplishments of the project to date are described, illustrated with many samples of materials used. (MSE)