Hi, Pritzker enthusiasts!
Just wanted to let everyone know that I received my financial aid packet today. Looks pretty decent. All types of aid were included in the package; it is pretty much what they told me I would be getting.
Also, I recently talked to a 4th year med student at Pritzker over email. I'm posting what she wrote. It's pretty long, but definitely worth reading! Some of the true U of C connoisseurs already know everything that is said, but it is still nice to see that the students remain happy and excited about their education and aren't jaded by the time fourth year is ending.
•••quote:•••I'm a fourth year student at University of Chicago writing you to give you my insight on
Pritzker. I know students here at Pritzker that had a full scholarship to [one school] and a nice offer from [another school] as well. They turned those down to come to Pritzker, and I'm sure they would tell you it was a good decision.
To make this readable, I'll just list some of Pritzker's biggest attributes from my perspective:
Pre-clinical and Clinical:
Student leadership-- The administration involves students with very significant decisions and processes such as the admissions process.
For example, 6-8 senior students sit on the admissions committee and carry as much weight as faculty. Any student can interview an applicant and again carries as much weight as faculty. There is an extensive orientation week for first year students (which deserves a paragraph all of its own!) which is entirely organized and implemented by second year students. We have
the opportunity to serve as TAs for anatomy, Pathophysiology, Physical Diagnosis, plus many others throughout the second through fourth
years. Some of the most valuable learning occurs through this TA network.
These are just a few examples of students being very involved with the education process. Students are also very pro-active in extracurricular activities. We have 2 student-organized free clinics, the Adolescent Substance Abuse Program which is used by med schools across
the country was developed by students here and many, many students are active in this program every year, etc... I'm sure you've gotten info from the admissions office about the various organizations, so I'll move on.
Chicago--It has to be the greatest city in the country if you subtract the cold weather!
Pre-clinical years: Pass/Fail--This is a virtue not because it encourages slacking off, but because it really, really reduces competition within the class. In fact there is almost no competition to speak of which greatly enhances the class interactions. Each class tends to be a rather social group which I think stems from the week long orientation for first years which is organized by second year students. It really promotes bonding within the class, and is a great way to start medical school.
A few draw-backs: Significant amount of time is spent in class--more than most schools. Much of the material taught is very basic science based,
not problem based learning or clinically based. In my opinion problem based learning would have been more fun, but I don't think the Pritzker
approach compromised my education. Students are given about 4 weeks off to study for step 1 of the boards at the end of the second year. It is
true that Pritzker classes do not focus on board preparation, but the 4 weeks of independent learning worked wonderfully for me.
Clinical years--Students are treated like integral members of the patient-care team. We are treated like collegues (for example, we all
wear the same length coat as all the other hospital physicians). Unbelievable flexibility during the fourth year. Basically, about 6 weeks of the year are required coursework (ie a
"sub-internship" where you act like an intern) and the remainder of the year is elective time where you can take classes, do hospital rotations,
or design your own elective. For example, one could study Spanish in a foreign country for credit or design a reading course in biotechnology for credit, etc... I know fourth year seems like a long time away, but free time during the fourth year is INVALUABLE!! Most students take 1-2 months off for interviewing. I met many students from other schools when I was interviewing who were trying to travel for interviews in the midst of doing hospital rotations--this would have to be so difficult! Most students also take time off at the end of the year to move to their new city before starting residency. Speaking of residencies--they no longer give statistics about what percentage of students get their first choice of residency. The average across the nation is around 60% I believe in past years. The estimate for our class this year is that 90% of us matched to our first choice of residency program (that doesn't only mean we matched to our choice of specialty (ie dermatology versus plastic surgery), it also means we matched at the
hospital of our choice (derm at UCLA, plastics at Harvard, etc...). This really reflects well upon Pritzker as a school!
A few drawbacks of the clinical years: Third year is completely structured with required rotations which does not leave time for electives in
fields like ER, Derm, Optho, etc... These must be done early in fourth year if a student is thinking of going into one of those fields. In my opinion, the patient population at UofC is stimulating and challenging in a positive
way.
I could keep writing much more about the positive aspects of Pritzker,
but I'll stop here. Students don't come to Pritzker in response to lucritive financial aid packages (unfortunately, they just aren't available here). They come because it feels like the right place for them and many have turned down nice financial packages elsewhere. I think ultimately that is the best way to make the decision (even though it seems painful to turn down good money!). ••••
