[MUSIC PLAYING]
PAMELA PETERS: It's one of the best things
in being at University of Chicago.
It's that research is a huge priority of the institution.
Every year of medical school, you have a formal research experience.
Every person that you meet, every faculty member, and even every student is involved
in research.
VINEET ARORA: The University of Chicago, it's had a long history of research that directly
leads to discoveries that improve health.
The Scholarship & Discovery program at Pritzker School of Medicine is a four-year longitudinal
program that enables each of our students to engage in mentored scholarly work with
a faculty here.
The very first day, our Scholarship & Discovery team meets the students, and we talk about
the mentorship opportunities that we have here in one of seven tracks-- basic sciences,
clinical research, and social sciences, healthcare delivery sciences, community health, global
health, and medical education.
One really unique thing about Pritzker is that we have protected time across the entire
continuum to do scholarly work.
And so that starts in the first year.
We have a 10 week block in the spring where students actually are working with their mentors,
and then 80% of our students will participate in the NIH-sponsored Summer Research Program.
In the second year, we have a Spring Block, which is a five week protected time between
USMLE Step 1, as well as before they enter third year.
They come back and revisit Scholarship & Discovery in their fourth year.
You tell us what you're going to do.
We'll give you the credits.
FUNMILOLA OLADINI: Pritzker really lets you own any project that you pursue.
I've been surprised, actually, by the amount of autonomy and leadership I've been given
on my research projects.
I actually lead a team of three nurse practitioners and a medical student.
So no matter what residency, no matter what type of medicine I practice, I would say that
this experience that I've had here Pritzker, being able to lead an interdisciplinary team,
is going to be useful for years to come.
MARK CHEE: The most important research opportunity that we have is the Summer Research Program.
Having stipends give students a reason to stay here and do research at Pritzker.
There's a Summer Research Program symposium.
You actually receive a personalized letter from the SRP team-- they call it the eHarmony
letter-- with research opportunities that you might find interesting.
FUNMILOLA OLADINI: I remember finding a particular project that I was super excited about.
And I e-mailed the primary investigator, and she was super receptive.
I had to meet with her and talk about my interests.
We realized that there was a good fit, and we moved from there.
MARK CHEE: Being located on the South Side of Chicago give students the opportunity to
see patients from underserved backgrounds to be able to navigate the complex and challenging
health needs that these patients have.
One of the projects that I'm working on is with the Bridgeport Free Clinic, which is
one of Pritzker's newest free clinics that serves underserved Asian-American populations
in the Bridgeport neighborhood.
And we're looking at community needs assessments that we did two years ago and some of the
clinic services and how we can better serve the community with the services that we provide.
VINEET ARORA: Because we're a smaller school, we're really able to give individualized advice
to our students and are able to make these mentor matches.
PAMELA PETERS: I've worked in Doctor Ernst Lengyel's lab, and I have been amazed by how
much a high-level faculty member is willing to invest in a medical student.
Now, as a fourth-year, when I'm making career decisions, he continues to be one of my most
important not only research, but personal mentors.
VINEET ARORA: And those mentors lineages are what really drive our culture of inquiry as
well as mentorship here.
MARK CHEE: Being on the University of Chicago campus provides Pritzker students to not only
pursue research outside of the Medical Center, but also take advantage of all of the opportunities
that the University of Chicago has to offer.
FUNMILOLA OLADINI: This year I started at Chicago Booth School of Business to pursue
my MBA in addition to the MD.
And I've had opportunities to learn about entrepreneurship, finance, accounting, how
to be effective at social impact, and that's all just by walking down the street.
VINEET ARORA: The lifecycle of research includes presenting at conferences, and we love to
see our students take their research and present at national meetings and regional meetings.
But when they graduate, 90% of our students are an author on a peer-reviewed, scholarly
product.
FUNMILOLA OLADINI: My PI has been so hands-on.
This is how we write a case report.
We'll help you and walk you through every step of the way.
I'll actually have the opportunity to present at two different conferences in the upcoming
month.
So it's been exciting to know that research that I've been doing is actually going to
be shared with other people.
VINEET ARORA: One of the reasons that our students have been so successful is that the
students have time across the curriculum.
And so through that thread and that arc, our students are able to begin a project, see
it through, and then complete the entire story before they even apply to residency.
MARK CHEE: Research can so easily get lost between the extracurriculars that people are
already doing, classwork that's picking up, and so having that protected time really helps
students to get projects off the ground and to actually complete projects during the four
years of medical school.
PAMELA PETERS: I have learned from every research experience that I have had here-- what kinds
of projects I might be interested in the future and also what kinds of projects will be reasonable
to take the lead on when I'm a resident.
FUNMILOLA OLADINI: And for somebody looking to come to Pritzker, I would say, you don't
need to know exactly what type of research you want to pursue.
Come to Pritzker.
You'll be inspired by ideas and people around you, and you'll find that thing you're passionate
about.