It is my distinct pleasure to welcome our new and returning students, residents, faculty, and staff. It’s truly one of my favorite times to be at the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Each year, the arriving classes of new students bring with them such an exhilarating sense of promise and possibility.
Our mission as an institution is to teach with creativity and dedication, to heal with quality and compassion, and to inspire discovery and innovation with integrity and resolve. As we prepare for another academic year, the SMHS community renews that commitment to improving the health and wellbeing of our local, national, and global communities.
Each day, we realize this mission through our faculty’s dedication to teaching critical skills to hundreds of medical, health sciences, and graduate students, as well as residents, preparing them for the challenges that lie ahead in the future of health care. Our faculty members are leaders in the field of medical and health education, working with both national health education organizations and the federal government to establish standardized learning techniques and develop national policies.
Our researchers are committed to finding answers to the unknown about diseases including cancer, HIV/AIDS, neurodevelopmental disorders, and heart disease, and are working to tailor therapies to individuals. They remain focused on that task day-in and day-out so that future generations can live healthier lives and be protected from disease.
Through academic medicine, GW clinicians, medical professionals, and SMHS students implement the most current modalities to treat their patients. They work hand-in-hand with researchers to translate basic science discoveries into clinical care, taking advantage of the latest innovations in medicine and health sciences.
Not only is the SMHS community providing care in clinical practices, they are also giving back to our local, national, and global communities by responding to crisis, volunteering at the student-run HEALing clinic, leading both state-side and international medical missions, and offering pro-bono services to medically underserved populations.
Our ideals, partnerships, and unique opportunities enable each of us to live up to the mission of the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences. We look forward to supporting the personal and professional growth of our medical, health sciences, and graduate students, as well as our residents, and faculty members.
With warm wishes for a rewarding year,
Jeffery S. Akman, M.D. ’81, GME ‘85
Interim Vice President for Health Affairs
Dean, School of Medicine and Health Sciences
