Systems-based practice is an important aspect of medical education. This study evaluates the effectiveness of an eight-hour intervention on medical students' knowledge of the principles of managed care. A pre-test on basic managed care principles was administered to freshman medical students at Mercer University. After an eight- hour managed care curriculum was presented to these students, a post-test was administered. The pre-test and post-test scores on the material increased a mean score of 9.7 points (p < 0.001). Our conclusion is that providing as little as eight-hours of instruction on managed care topics can significantly improve first-year medical students' knowledge and understanding of systems-based practice.