The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine will offer full-tuition scholarships to up to half of all incoming students starting in fall 2023, according to an April 12 press release. Pritzker will also roll out its new Pritzker Phoenix curriculum at the same time.

“The new scholarship funds will be granted based on need and a candidate’s potential to succeed,” the release read. “The new curriculum will focus on empowering students to serve as patient advocates and enhance small-group learning and community engagement, while continuing UChicago’s tradition of rigorous inquiry.”
Per the release, more than 90 percent of current Pritzker students receive partial financial aid, and about 40 percent have been supported through full-tuition scholarships or grants.

The news comes after Mark Anderson—the dean of Pritzker, executive vice president for Medical Affairs, and dean of the Biological Sciences Division—told The Maroon in fall 2022 about his goal of reducing medical school tuition and student debt ahead of the medical school’s centennial in 2027.

“Diversity is an essential part of a meaningful medical education and a vital focus of ours as we envision the future of healthcare,” Anderson said in the April 12 release. “While the changes being made represent another important step in the journey toward increased equity in medical education and in healthcare, we also have a goal to create a tuition or debt–free scenario for all Pritzker students in need.”

A 2018 analysis by the Association for American Medical Colleges (AAMC) found that almost a quarter of medical students in the United States come from the top five percent of the country’s wealthiest households.

“The high cost of medical education literally makes it a barrier to entry for all but the wealthiest students. Increasing our tuition support allows us to recruit and support talented students who deserve to access medical education but simply cannot afford it. They are also the same students who are more likely to serve their communities,” Dean for Medical Education Vineet Arora told The Maroon in an email.

Pritzker’s new Pritzker Phoenix curriculum will debut this fall, with the first cohort of students on the curriculum set to graduate in 2027. Per the release, the new curriculum will increase students’ access to clinical opportunities beginning their first year while also providing time for self-directed learning, research opportunities, and community engagement.

“The redesigned curriculum’s name was selected to symbolize rebirth following the COVID-19 pandemic and pays homage to UChicago’s coat of arms, a shield displaying a phoenix,” the release read.
“It is literally a rebirth of knowledge that we learned in the pandemic on how to best teach and also support our students [in] learning using concepts pioneered here, such as learning by doing, experiential learning, and small group teaching,” Arora said.

Additionally, the new curriculum will give students more time to study for Step 2 of the U.S. Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE), which has become increasingly important for matching into residency programs after USMLE Step 1 became pass/fail in 2022.

“One additional benefit of our new curriculum is students will have more time so they can prepare for USMLE Step 2 and receive coaching as well as skill-building to continue to successfully succeed in an increasingly competitive residency match and in their residencies,” Arora said.