PURPOSE Widespread concern regarding the efficiency and effectiveness of US and other health systems has led to the creation within undergraduate curricula of “the third science of healthcare delivery†or “health systems science†1,2.   However, this risks undermining integration within existing curricular frameworks. In the global contexts in which our curriculum is delivered and our graduates will practise, most learners also find this a difficult concept. Young learners (and some educators) envisage doctors as providing one-to-one care. They have limited appreciation of the societal dimensions of healthcare, nor of the centrality of governance, regulation, legal systems and health-care financing to individual and population health. METHODS As a key part of our ongoing undergraduate medical curricular transformation, we have therefore chosen to build on the principles described by Shulman: “Signature pedagogies make a difference. They form habits of the mind, habits of the heart, and habits of the handâ€3. Within this three pillar framework (cognitive, skills, personal & professional identity) we have created a longitudinal theme of “Population Health and Healthcare Deliveryâ€, with content and assessment integrated into the case-based learning model throughout the five year programme. RESULTS This uses the tools of evidence-based health and the Global Burden of Disease to help learners ask and answer the following questions: Who is affected by this condition, and how? How do we assess and measure condition-related health outcomes at individual and population levels? How can we most affordably prevent or reduce its morbidity and mortality, including through health delivery systems and public policy?  CONCLUSION We have found this to be intuitive and compelling for both learners and educators. It supports the transformative agenda for healthcare education promulgated by the Lancet Commission: “Health professionals for a new century: transforming education to strengthen health systems in an interdependent world†4. Sklar Acad Med 3:384(2018) Starr Mayo Clin Proc 1:117(2017) Shulman Daedalus 134:52(2005) Frenk Lancet 376:1923(2010)