Dean's Corner
Holly J. Humphrey, MD
Professor of Medicine and
Dean for Medical Education
It is particularly fitting, as we plan our White Coat Ceremony for the Pritzker Class of 2010, that this edition of the Pritzker Pulse focuses on the issue of professionalism. We are all aware that there are many threats to the values and principles that have served as the foundation for our profession and the basis for our social contract with patients for the last century.
Earlier this summer, the University of Chicago played host to the Association of American Medical College's Petersdorf Scholar in Residence, Ms. Linda Blank, who was visiting our school as part of the AAMC's new national initiative entitled Leadership and Transforming the Culture and Environment to Educate for Medical Professionalism. The specific goal of the project is to share the innovative approaches and best practices from twelve US and Canadian medical schools to inform the efforts of all AAMC constituents. The project will conclude at year's end with a report of the findings from the twelve institutions and a set of recommendations that can be used by all medical schools involved in such transformation.
I look forward to hearing Linda Blank's presentation a the AAMC National Conference this November. Our school was chosen to be part of this select group on the basis of the activities t h a t have commenced under the auspices of our Roadmap to Professionalism Initiative. The Roadmap, which is being led by Dr. Vineet Arora, Assistant Dean for Curricular Innovation, is organized into working groups, who are developing strategies specifically targeted at each stage of the profession from first year medical students to faculty members. From workshops for residents on interacting with the pharmaceutical industry to the implementation of the new Pritzker Societies for medical students, our school has developed numerous strategies to help us "affirm our deeper values and reclaim our authenticity as trusted healers," as Thomas Inui wrote in the AAMC's seminal report, A Flag in the Wind: Educating for Professionalism in Medicine. Dr. Inui continues, "In the end it is not because we have special knowledge and technology that we can be trusted—instead we are trusted only if this knowledge and technology is firmly attached to values that are explicit, understood, and (when push comes to shove) altruistic."
Sincerely,
Holly J. Humphrey, MD
Pritzker Class of '83
Professor of Medicine and Dean for Medical Education
