House Calls

Akin to the Hogwarts Sorting Hat process in Harry Potter novels, in which students are placed into their dormitories by a magic hat, incoming Chicago Medical School (CMS) students are assigned to one of four learning communities (LCs), or “houses.” The houses are named in honor of four distinguished alumni of CMS: Fannie Emanuel, MD 1915, one of the first Black women to graduate from CMS and a champion for Chicago’s underserved; Caesar Portes, MD 1928, an early pioneer of cancer screenings; Herbert Lipschultz, MD ’48, a community health advocate; and Marion Finkel, MD ’52, who held multiple leadership roles at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.   

Each house includes some 50 students and a physician faculty mentor. Students remain with the same house and mentor throughout medical school. While not physical houses (no moving staircases or talking portraits), each CMS house provides a supportive system that fosters shared bonds essential to success in medical school.

The LC experience features three signature programs key to the development of future physicians:

• The MedLEAD peer-mentoring program matches first- and second-year students within each house, creating a sense of community.
• LC CARES (Community, Advocacy, Resources, Education and Support) has each house implement a project that addresses health needs 
in the community.
• The LC Wellness program emphasizes the importance of students caring for themselves so they can care for others, focusing on physical, emotional and mental wellness, as well as healthy coping strategies.

CMS houses engage in a friendly competition each year on Field Day, playing games such as capture the flag and tug-of-war. (Quidditch is not yet on the schedule.) House Finkel is the reigning Field Day champion.