From student to practitioner: New Pritzker course focused on residency prep

When medical students graduate and start their residencies at hospitals across the country, they are quickly launched from learners to practitioners. 

The pivot can be exciting — and scary. Not only do residents take care of patients, they’re also part of collaborative care teams and handle a range of interpersonal duties. 

“For people who went right into medical school from college, residency is their first real job,” said Phillip LoSavio, MD, a Professor of Surgery at the Pritzker School of Medicine. “It can be daunting to suddenly have all these time demands on you.” 

This story appeared in Medicine on the Midway magazine. Read the Fall 2025 issue here.

It’s why Pritzker teams have developed a new boot camp teaching critical skills to guide residents’ first 90 days on the job. Starting in 2027, students will complete the Transition to Residency course in their final three weeks before graduation. 

“We want to help them keep the momentum going when they take these big next steps so they can be prepared for a successful professional career,” said LoSavio, who also directs Phase 3 within Pritzker’s Phoenix Curriculum — the medical school’s most significant update in 15 years. 

Ready on day one

The curriculum, launched in 2024, is a revised educational framework designed to empower Pritzker students to serve as patient advocates and incorporate self-directed learning, research, clinical experience and community engagement.

During the final 14 months, a period known as Phase 3, students receive education to help them shift to the next stage of their career. The phase includes clinical electives and independent studies, and it concludes with the Transition to Residency course.

It reflects a growing momentum for specialized prep work. “Across the country, there has been a movement in medical schools toward training students to be ready for residency on day one,” said Jeanne Farnan, MD, MHPE, Professor of Medicine and Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education.

During its first week, the course will bring together all fourth-year students to learn best practices for common responsibilities. That includes specific scenarios, like how to deliver bad news to patients, but also everyday situations, such as answering pages, effective note writing, discharge planning and informed consent.

“A lot of being an effective intern is common to many other jobs outside of medicine,” LoSavio said. “They need to be a team member, to handle multiple responsibilities and even learn how to understand their benefits from their employer.”

New gold standard

After the first week, students will split into four tracks, based on their specialties — Medicine, Surgery, OB-GYN, and Pediatrics — to focus on competencies for their fields.

Within their specialties, students will take full advantage of the UChicago Medicine Simulation Center, which offers state-of-the-art mannequins and clinical systems that mirror actual care environments.

The course will also include a module for students interested in pursuing academic careers.

Compared to coursework offered by peer institutions, Pritzker’s transition course is unique for its length and for bringing specialties together first to interact with each other, as well as for its focus on teaching future residents to prioritize their health and wellness during training.

“While there are other courses like this across the country, there is currently no gold standard,” Farnan said. “We want our course to be successful, but we also want to make scholarly work and share our findings with the medical education community.” 

The course may also provide a reputational boost with long-term benefit. “I want program directors to be able to say that University of Chicago students are outstanding and ready to go to take care of patients,” LoSavio said.