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The George Washington University Medical Center
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  Founded in 1821 as a private, nonsectarian coeducational institution, the George Washington University has grown to 90 buildings on 43 acres in the heart of the historic Foggy Bottom area of the nation’s capital. More than 19,000 students from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and more than 90 foreign countries are enrolled in the various graduate and undergraduate programs.
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 Founded in 1824, the George Washington University Medical Center (GWUMC) is a nationally recognized, interdisciplinary academic health care center comprising the University Hospital, the Medical Faculty Associates—which includes both the primary care and specialty practices of the medical faculty, the School of Medicine and Health Sciences, and the School of Public Health and Health Services. GWUMC is especially known for its
Cancer Institute (GWCI), Response to Emergencies and Disasters Institute (READI), Institute for Spirituality and Health (GWISH), Ronald Reagan Institute for Emergency Medicine (RRIEM), Center for Health Policy, minimally invasive surgery, and cardiovascular research and treatment. It is a major Washington area employer with more than 3,000 employees.
GWUMC physicians and staff have a long tradition of public service. They serve as volunteers in many nonprofit health clinics in Washington, D.C., including the Whitman-Walker Clinic, Zacchaeus Free Clinic, Health Care for the Homeless, and La Clinica del Pueblo. In addition, the GW Breast Care Center runs the area’s only mobile mammography unit, the GW Mammovan, in conjunction with the Cancer Research Foundation of America.
In 1824, the George Washington University (then called Columbian College) opened the United States’ 11th medical department with a six-member faculty, who sold lecture tickets to both students and the general public. Former President John Quincy Adams, a member of Congress, attended many lectures.
With the opening of the Washington Infirmary in 1844, the department established the nation’s first general hospital and, by taking the then-radical step of including clinical studies in the curriculum, made GW one of America’s first teaching hospitals. The University assumed full responsibility for the medical school and has supported it ever since.
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Located in the nation’s capital, the University Hospital serves a diverse group of patients—from area residents to visiting dignitaries and heads of state. The hospital is a tertiary- and quaternary-care facility serving the residents of the DC metropolitan area and visitors to our nation’s capital. Equipped with the most up-to-date medical equipment and technology, the Hospital’s services include virtually all specialties with the exception of pediatrics, which is provided at our affiliate institution, Children’s Hospital; the University Hospital does house the region’s largest high-risk pregnancy program. The University Hospital Emergency Department is a certified Level 1 trauma center, having met the American College of Surgeons’ requirements for medical staff training, clinical research on trauma care, and community education. More than 15,000 patients are admitted each year to the University Hospital; another 57,000 patients are seen in the Emergency Department.
 GW’s patients and their health problems are as diverse as the nation’s capital, and the staff of the University Hospital is committed to providing comprehensive and compassionate care to all who enter its doors, be they homeless people who walk in to the Emergency Department seeking primary care, patients who have flown thousands of miles for pioneer procedures, or the president of the United States.
Since 1997, the Hospital has been jointly owned by the University and Universal Health Services of King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, the nation’s third-largest public hospital management company. Over 820 physicians and more than 625 nurses are affiliated with the Hospital.
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 Founded in 1825, the George Washington University School of Medicine has a distinguished record in medical education, training, and research. It is enriched by the diversity of its more than 600 medical students. Four of every ten students hold undergraduate degrees in the arts, humanities, or social sciences. It has traditionally been rated among the nation’s leaders in training of comprehensive generalist physicians.
The Practice of Medicine curriculum was one of the first in the nation to place students in clinical settings from the start of their medical school experience. This curriculum runs through all four years of medical school and couples first-year students with a physician preceptor in an outpatient setting, introducing them to clinical work from the earliest days of their medical education.
The Walter G. Ross Hall, directly across from the University Hospital, houses the School’s classrooms, research labs, administrative offices, and the Paul Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library. The Himmelfarb Library coordinates information services for all members of the Medical Center. Its collection includes more than 120,000 volumes and 1,800 serial subscriptions. In addition, the Library maintains an extensive audiovisual study center and microcomputer laboratory, including video programs, computer-assisted instruction software, and interactive media. The Library also offers searching on MEDLINE and other specialty databases.
More than $42 million in funded and sponsored research is being conducted by GW faculty members and research associates. Among these are leaders in the fields of cholesterol and lipid research, pharmacology, nephrology, neurological disease and treatment, HIV disease, myocardial function, shock and trauma, anesthesiology, vascular disease, laparoscopic techniques, ischemia, gastrointestinal physiology and motility, as well as many other areas of health care treatment and delivery.
In addition to the doctor of medicine degree, the School offers a broad range of undergraduate and graduate programs to prepare health professionals for roles in selected specialties within the medical profession. Programs include nuclear medicine technology, radiation therapy technology, clinical laboratory sciences, and administration. There is a post-master’s nurse practitioner program and one of the country’s leading physician assistant programs.
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 The School of Public Health and Health Services, the only one in the nation’s capital, was established July 1, 1997. The School encompasses the departments of Environmental and Occupational Health, Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Health Services Management and Leadership, Global Health, Health Policy, Exercise Science, and Prevention and Community Health. Approximately 650 students are enrolled in the School. The degrees offered include the fully accredited master of public health, master of health services administration, and a doctorate in epidemiology-biostatistics. Bachelor and master degrees in exercise science are also offered. The School’s Wertlieb Educational Institute for Long-Term Care Management has already emerged as a national and international resource for education and interdisciplinary dialogue in long-term care management and finance.
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 Currently, with more than 270 doctors and 41 medical specialties, the Medical Faculty Associates (MFA) is the largest and most comprehensive physician practice in the District. Since 1969, the MFA has consolidated office-based patient care in the Ambulatory Care Center (ACC) across the street from the University Hospital, where comprehensive, one-stop outpatient care is provided. The ACC has laboratories, radiologic facilities, special treatment rooms for minor surgery, and teaching areas for staff and students studying the clinical sciences. The MFA treats an average of 1,500 patients per day.
The
Washington Institute of Surgical Endoscopy, built on the expertise of GWUMC surgeons and notable for its full complement of the most current endoscopic equipment, is a recognized regional resource for training surgeons and surgical teams in advanced techniques of minimally invasive surgery.
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Last Updated: November 20, 2006 |