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WelcomeThe George Washington University
Medical Center
Table of Contents
The George Washington University
The George Washington University Medical Center
The University Hospital
The School of Medicine and Health Sciences
The School of Public Health and Health Services
The Medical Faculty Associates
The George Washington University
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 of the 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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The George Washington University Medical Center
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, the School of Public Health
and Health Services, and the GW Health Plan, a 26-year-old health maintenance
organization serving nearly 90,000 members. The Medical Center also has
three research institutes: the Institute for Biomedical Sciences, the
Institute for Clinical Research and Clinical Trials, and the Institute
for Health Policy, Outcomes, and Human Values. GWUMC is especially known
for its Neurological Institute, Cancer Center, cardiovascular research
and treatment, and Emergency Department. 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 non-profit 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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The University Hospital
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 and clinical research on trauma
care, and community education. More than 17,500 patients are admitted
each year to the University Hospital; another 50,000 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, Pa., the nation’s third-largest public hospital management company. Approximately 1,600 people are employed at the Hospital. Nearly 1,000 physicians and more than 250 nurses are affiliated with the Hospital.
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The School of Medicine and Health Sciences
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 the street from the University Hospital, houses the Schools 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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School of Public Health and Health Services
The
School of Public Health and Health Services, the only one in the nation’s
capital, was established July 1, 1997. It offers a Master of Public Health
degree and variety of other certificate and degree programs. The School
encompasses the Departments of Environmental-Occupational Health, Epidemiology-Biostatistics,
Health Services Management and Policy, International Public Health, 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 management and policy, and
a Ph.D. 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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The Medical Faculty Associates
The
Medical Faculty Associates (MFA) is the multi-specialty group practice
of more than 260 full-time medical faculty. 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 has over 445,000 patient visits
each year and has established regional satellite offices in Virginia and
Maryland to provide consultive services to area physicians.
Centers of emphasis within the MFA are recognized for their excellence in research, training, and advanced clinical services: currently they include the GW Neurological Institute; the GW Cancer Center; the GW Center for Cardiovascular Diseases; the Department of Emergency Medicine, home of the Ronald Reagan Institute for Emergency Medicine; and the GW Center for Excellence in Women's Health.
The Department of Surgery's Endo-Surgical Education and Research Center, 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.
