JS/ISP

When the Independent Study Programs were initiated within the College of Medicine in 1969, a select, limited number of gifted students—under the guidance of experienced senior faculty—were given broad license to assimilate the content of the undergraduate medical curriculum by whatever means best suited their own personal approach to learning. WHAT they had to learn was specified by the faculty, but HOW they learned it was up to them and their faculty advisors. These students had to take and pass only a limited number of certifying exams covering both the basic sciences and clinical medicine in order to graduate. They also had to meet the special requirement to complete a significant research project under the guidance of a faculty mentor.

The format of the Independent Study Program has changed considerably since its inception. Students in the program are now required to take and pass the same written examinations in every discipline, as do the regular students. In addition to mastering the material in the regular curriculum, Independent Study Students must still be engaged in and must satisfactorily complete a research project that is considered significant.

In Chicago, students are selected for participation in the Independent Study Program in the spring of their first year of medical school based on their nomination by a member of the faculty who has been impressed by their academic performance and the student’s apparent interest in carrying out a research project. The nature of the research can vary from basic bench research to studies of medical economics and health care systems or anything in-between.

Once the nominated students survive a number of interviews and are accepted into the Independent Study Program, they become part of a remarkably strong career counseling and academic advisory system. While some curricular flexibility is permitted and encouraged within the program, that flexibility is not as wide-ranging as it once was. It is still the case, however, that Independent Study Students can have special arrangements made for them to rotate through clinical and basic sciences educational experiences at other prestigious medical schools and health care facilities here and abroad. Further, every effort is made to match these students with the best residency-training program in their area of career interest.

Student selection for the Independent Study Programs in the regional sites may be different from that in Chicago and interested students need to seek out the pertinent information directly from those sites---Rockford, Peoria, and Urbana/Champaign.

Successful Independent Study Program Students graduate with the designation of “James Scholar” a distinction recognized by some of the finest residency programs in the country. Of necessity, enrollment in this special program is limited.

Chicago Program Director, Truman O. Anderson, MD, PhD             toanders@uic.edu
Chicago Associate Director, Elizabeth Parson, MEd                        eparson@uic.edu