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The partnership program at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) School of Medicine pairs less experienced students with more experienced students to work together during the last four years of a six-year curriculum. The present study has explored how the partnership program is supposed to work, whether in reality it does work, what function it actually serves, and under what circumstances it operates best. In 1986 and 1987, the authors analyzed information from formal school documents, created and used questionnaires for the students and faculty, conducted semistructured interviews with selected students, and used the results of an annual survey, begun in 1978, of supervisors of first-year students who graduated from UMKC. The students and docents were found to favor the partnership system and reported that most partnerships worked well. The system's chief outcome is seen to be teaching teamwork: learning from and working together with student partners. The characteristics of the students, docents, and setting that contributed to successful partnerships are identified. The authors conclude that the partnership system at UMKC does achieve its objectives, which are described.