Transitions: A Financial Education Pilot Curriculum

Introduction In 2025, more than two-thirds of new physicians graduated medical school in debt, with an average debt of $223000, a 22% increase over the past decade. We describe a novel financial literacy curriculum, the goal of which is to increase resident knowledge of financial topics. Methods Upon completion of a global needs assessment of residents, a pilot curriculum, the Transitions Conference, was developed. Lectures were delivered in a one-day didactic session to a single-center 3-year emergency medicine residency. A paper-based anonymous survey was given before and after the didactic sessions that queried participants on self-assessed financial knowledge. Results All participants reported learning something in at least one topic area. 96.9% reported learning something in at least nine of 10 topics, and over 90% reported learning something across every topic included in the curriculum. Conclusions Introduction of a focused financial-based education curriculum is a way for residency programs to increase residents’ financial knowledge.