Dean's Corner
Pritzker Initiative Kickoff
Holly J. Humphrey, MDPritzker Class of '83
Professor of Medicine
and Dean for Medical Education
Dear Students,
For medical education to flourish from one generation to the next, it has to reconfigure itself in response to changing scientific, social, and economic circumstances.
That challenge from Abraham Flexner served as the basis for the medical education revolution of the early 20th century. Throughout its history, the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine has met Flexner's challenge through an unremitting examination and evaluation of the medical curriculum and its relationship to biomedical discovery. Today, in 2005, ten years after the last such intensive curricular review and reform, we once again find ourselves in an era of rapid discovery and pathbreaking approaches to medical care, and we, like many of our peer institutions, will undertake a new initiative to create a blueprint for a 21st century curriculum.
During the 2005-06 academic year, we will launch The Pritzker Initiative: A Curriculum for the 21st Century. This initiative will transform the program of medical education offered at the Pritzker School of Medicine to reflect the revolutionary discoveries of the last ten years and their application to patient care, while preserving the great traditions and core values of the school and its devoted teaching faculty.
Over the next few months, our institution’s most senior leaders (department chairs, distinguished scientists, and eminent teachers) together with your elected student curriculum representatives, will meet regularly to create a blueprint. The process is led by Dr. Halina Brukner, Professor of Medicine and Associate Dean for Medical School Education, and Marsha Rosner, PhD, Director and Charles B. Huggins Professor, Ben May Institute for Cancer Research.
In spring 2006, we will begin work on the implementation planning phase of The Pritzker Initiative. The student voice will continue to be a key factor in this process, as student volunteers, along with your elected student representatives, will participate. We anticipate that the implementation planning phase of The Pritzker Initiative will evolve over a period of approximately 15 months, culminating in implementation of the new curriculum by Summer 2007.
The Pritzker Initiative Kickoff
Many of our students and faculty were in attendance when The Pritzker Initiative commenced on October 19, 2005 with a speech by Dr. Jordan Cohen, President of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). Dr. Cohen described the challenges of 21st century medical education in preparing students for the new paradigms of health care while adapting the curriculum to the new paradigms of medical education. During his talk, Dr. Cohen identified the necessary prerequisites of success for curriculum reform initiatives:
- A champion with passion
- Commitment from the dean
- Genuine buy-in by department chairs
- Core faculty committed to education and willing to spend the time!
- Students undaunted by innovation
It is clear to me that all these criteria are met at our school and that The Pritzker Initiative will serve as a transformative process. The University of Chicago, long known as the "teacher of teachers," has a rich tradition in medical education and numerous strengths, including the dedication of the teaching faculty, the distinction and academic excellence of our students, and the effectiveness of our current curriculum. The Pritzker Initiative will draw upon these strengths as well as the ideas and insights of our faculty and students to develop an integrative and comprehensive biomedical curriculum that will provide our medical students with the intellectual and practical tools to keep pace with burgeoning science and the social and economic imperatives of our evolving world.
I am looking forward to working with all of you over the next 18 months and drawing upon your passion and commitment for this initiative.
Sincerely,
Holly J. Humphrey, MD
Professor of Medicine and Dean for Medical Education
