In early 2019, the Chicago Medical School Dean appointed the Director of Accreditation (DA) and the Director of Business Operations (DBO) to co-facilitate the development of the 2020-2023 Chicago Medical School Strategic Plan. In March 2019, the DA and DBO drafted a survey to collect information which would inform a SWOT analysis. The survey was approved by the Associate Deans and Dean's Cabinet. It was then launched to CMS administration, faculty, staff, students, residents, alumni, and community partners and was open for responses for one month. During that month, the DA and DBO worked with the Dean to form a Strategic Planning Steering Committee whose members included administration, faculty, students, an alumnus, and a community partner. The steering committee reviewed the SWOT analysis and drafted strategic priorities and corresponding goals and submitted them to the Dean's Cabinet and Faculty Executive Council (FEC) for approval.

In November 2019, the DA and DBO facilitated a strategic planning retreat attended by invited alumni; community partners; Rosalind Franklin University (RFU) administrators involved in CMS activities; and CMS administrators, faculty members, students, and staff. During that retreat, attendees were divided into groups, assigned to a priority and its goals, and asked to develop measurable and achievable objectives for each. Those objectives were then refined by the Strategic Planning Steering Committee, edited to align with the University's strategic plan, and submitted to the Dean's Cabinet and FEC for review. In December 2019, the 2020-2023 Chicago Medical School Strategic Plan was given final approval.

The issues CMS faces are not altogether new, but to remain a successful community-based medical school, its priorities and tactics must continue to evolve. The strengths of the school lie in its revitalized educational program, cutting-edge research, and solid institutional and community partnerships.

The 2020-2023 Chicago Medical School Strategic Plan seeks to build on those strengths, as well as expand focus to areas identified through the comprehensive strategic planning process.

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1. Continuous Innovative Enhancement of a Dynamic and Evolving Educational Program

Goals:

1. Enhance comparability of clinical education and experiences across sites.
2. Integrate emerging technological advances in healthcare delivery into the training of clinicians.
3. Enhance infrastructure for career advising of medical students.
4. Build upon continuous quality improvement processes to improve execution timeline for recommended actions.
5. Invest in programs to ensure humanistic, scientific, and student-centered approaches to medical education.

2. Foster a Supportive and Interprofessional Academic Learning Environment

Goals:

1. Explore and strengthen infrastructure to support student and faculty wellness.
2. Increase the quality of support for development and diversity of faculty, staff, and learners, and continue to cultivate an environment where everyone feels included.
3. Incorporate more robust interprofessional collaboration and evaluation into clinical experiences.
4. Strengthen administrative support for faculty preparation, productivity, and participation.

3. Increase impactful research in basic and clinical sciences

Goals:

1. Expand research center development.
2. Develop population health based research and quality improvement projects.
3. Leverage the Innovation and Research Park (IRP) to promote increased translational and clinical research and involvement of students.
4. Improve support for student research.

4. Cultivate Valued Partnerships

Goals:

1. Engage research and scholarship partners to secure new opportunities.
2. Engage clinical partners to enhance clerkship education and workforce development.
3. Establish the Chicago Medical School as a preeminent and integral member of the Lake County Community.
4. Leverage global health partnerships and opportunities to increase cultural competency in clinical care and population health.

5. Optimize Resource Attainment and Utilization

Goals:

1. Employ marketing and brand recognition strategies to attract and retain outstanding faculty, staff, and learners.
2. Enhance financial resource efforts with a focus on philanthropy and other revenue streams to decrease student debt.
3. Improve infrastructure to streamline operational processes.