Academy
Scott D. Stern, MD, FACP
Professor of Medicine
Section of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine
The University of Chicago
Scott D. Stern, MD, FACP
Dr. Scott Stern is Professor of Medicine, Co-Director of the Junior Clerkship in Medicine, and Co-Course Director of the Clinical Pathophysiology and Therapeutics course for second year Medical students. Through these roles, Dr. Stern makes a fundamental and meaningful contribution to undergraduate Medical education at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine.
After earning Bachelor’s Degree in Biology with Phi Beta Kappa honors in 1980 and his MD degree from The University of Chicago in 1984, Dr. Stern completed the Combined Internal Medicine/Pediatrics residency training program at the University of Rochester, where he twice received the Outstanding Resident Teaching Award from the graduating class of the University of Rochester School of Medicine. Dr. Stern was selected for a six month term as Pediatric Outpatient Chief Resident and spent another year as Chief Resident in Medicine. After practicing internal Medicine for 5 years in Rochester, New York, he joined the University of Chicago Department of Medicine faculty as an Assistant Professor in 1994, rising to the position of Associate Professor in 1998. He was promoted to Professor in 2007.
Dr. Stern is widely lauded for his contributions to Medical education at the University of Chicago. In 2003, Dr. Stern he began his service as Co-Course Director of the Clinical Pathophysiology and Therapeutics with Dr. Aliya Husain of the Department of Pathology, ultimately receiving the “Rookie of the Year” award from the Medical students. Drs. Stern and Husain have worked to make this course a MDl for interdisciplinary learning, incorporating cases and pathological images, and utilizing the skills and expertise of faculty drawn from throughout the Biological Sciences Division. The course is one of the most highly regarded in the Pritzker curriculum. Further, Dr. Stern serves as Co-Director of the Junior Clerkship in Internal Medicine. The outstanding teaching and professional development provided through this experience undoubtedly account for the high percentage of University of Chicago students who chose internal Medicine for their careers, well exceeding national averages. Drawing upon his experiences as clerkship director, Dr. Stern served as the lead author of Symptom to Diagnosis: An Evidence Based Guide, published in 2006 by McGraw-Hill. This textbook utilizes an innovative approach to help students and residents master diagnostic reasoning. Each chapter addresses a common complaint or disorder, and begins with a case and an explanation of a way to organize the differential diagnosis. With the clinical reasoning clearly articulated, each case unfolds in a stepwise fashion, with emphasis on evidence-based information.
Dr. Stern’s teaching has been recognized with numerous honors, including three-time receipt of a “Favorite Faculty Award” from graduating classes and two-time receipt of the L.D.H. Wood Award for “selfless, tireless, and excellent teaching of Medical students.” In 1997, Dr. Stern’s was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha honors by students in recognition of his “embodiment of those principles underlying AOA – scholarship, leadership, and humanitarian contribution.” In 2006, Dr. Scott Stern was named as one of the six inaugural members of the University of Chicago Academy of Distinguished Medical Educators.
