1.1.A. School of Medicine Vision for the Twenty-First Century

Our school is one of the nation’s preeminent institutions for education, biomedical research and clinical care. This will not change. In our vision for the 21st century, we shall continue to be recognized for our extraordinary ability to make fundamental discoveries in biology and biomedical sciences. But we shall also be focused on translating those discoveries into diagnostic and therapeutic applications for improved patient care. We shall institute policies and structures that will encourage productive collaborations, and facilitate the movement from fundamental discoveries to diagnosis and treatment of disease.

We shall continue to attract and retain the highest quality faculty members who will work collectively and who will have the experience, knowledge and insight necessary to respond to new research and programmatic opportunities and to be a central focus for excellence in patient care.

We shall continue to create unparalleled educational opportunities for our medical students, graduate students, fellows and house staff physicians, and to prepare them for leadership careers in medicine and biomedical research. Our medical students will leave intellectually prepared both to grasp and contribute to the growing body of biomedical knowledge and emotionally prepared to care for patients with compassion and respect. Our graduate students and fellows will conduct important basic and clinical research with extraordinary faculty and will leave prepared for career both within and outside academia.

Our medical school community will reflect the richness of America’s communities and will foster a supportive, hospitable environment that encourages the fullest extent of intellectual and personal development for all.

Finally, we shall continue to benefit from being part of a world class university and will take advantage of the opportunities of integration–those that arise from the interface between medicine and other disciplines, from a sharing of ideas, resources and technology, and from access to the rich intellectual environment of the University as a whole.