Dean’s Corner
Training the Physician-Scientist
Dear Students, Faculty and Alumni:
Holly J. Humphrey, MD
Professor of Medicine and
Dean for Medical Education
On March 15, 2007 at 11 am, the Pritzker School of Medicine Class of 2007 opened their Match Day envelopes and discovered where they would be continuing their medical training. This rite of passage-shared by physicians in training for the last 50 years-is the process through which our students discover the residency program they will attend.
As our fourth year students begin planning for the next stage of their medical careers, I would like to highlight the career of the academic physician — such as your own teachers — and the role the University of Chicago plays in educating the physician scientists and clinician educators of the future. In recent years, there has been national concern that the proportion of physician-scientists is shrinking, and this problem is only likely to get worse as current researchers age and retire.1 Current medical students represent hope in reversing this trend. In January, the AAMC released an encouraging report suggesting that medical students are increasingly interested in pursuing research.2
The University of Chicago has a strong legacy of attracting and supporting future academic physicians. According to the AAMC Graduating Student Questionnaire, Pritzker graduates aspire to academic medicine careers at well over twice the national rate of all US medical school graduates. The AAMC Medical School Profile System ranks Pritzker fourth among medical schools for the number of graduates who go on to join academic faculties across the country. It is no wonder that the University of Chicago is known throughout the medical school community for being the “teacher of teachers.” The recent restructure of the University of Chicago Hospitals and Biological Sciences Division into a unified Academic Medical Center will only serve to strengthen and support this reputation.
At the Second Annual Medical Education Day, on April 13, we will have the opportunity to celebrate the careers of sixteen outstanding University of Chicago faculty members as they are inducted as new members of the Academy of Distinguished Medical Educators. These academic physicians provide a vital perspective for our students by bridging the frameworks of the researcher, educator and clinician. Whatever career path you decide to take — or have already chosen — I hope that you will recognize the vital and important role you might also play in the process of scientific inquiry and discovery.
Sincerely,
Holly J. Humphrey, MD
Professor of Medicine and Dean for Medical Education
1 Ley TJ, Rosenberg LE, The Physician-Scientist Career Pipeline in 2005: Build it, and They Will Come, JAMA, 2005; 294:1343-1351
2 Matriculating Student Questionnaire All Schools Summary Report, AAMC, 2006.
