About the UW School of Medicine
Founded in 1946, innovating every day since.
Global Impact
Recognized for advancing medical knowledge through scientific research; UW Medicine scientists explore every aspect of health and disease, from the molecular mechanisms of gene action to population studies of global illnesses.
Elevating Communities
Our graduates: physicians, scientists, allied health personnel and scholars in medical history and ethics, go on to serve in a wide variety of capacities. Many M.D. and physician assistant alumni practice in areas of need, such as rural towns, inner cities and in developing nations.
Interdisciplinary Collaboration
Recognized for excellence in training primary care physicians and advancing medical knowledge through research, UW Medicine scientists, educators and clinicians are dedicated to helping each other reach the common goals of improving health and alleviating suffering from disease.
What makes the UW School of Medicine different?
Our mission guides us to improve the health of the public by educating and empowering the next generation of physicians, researchers and stewards of wellness in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.
The University of Washington School of Medicine (UWSOM) was founded in 1946. In the early 1970s, it formed a unique partnership with the states of Washington, Alaska, Montana and Idaho, adding Wyoming in 1996, to provide innovative and cost-effective medical education to this region known as WWAMI.
Recognized for advancing medical knowledge through scientific research, UW Medicine scientists explore every aspect of health and disease, from the molecular mechanisms of gene action to population studies of global illnesses. Their work has contributed to improved understanding of the causes of disease and to better treatments and prevention of many disorders.
Full-time physician faculty staff UW Medical Center and Harborview Medical Center, as well as the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System and Seattle Children’s. UWSOM faculty also practice in UW Medicine Primary Care locations throughout Puget Sound, and provide expert consultation to practicing physicians throughout the five-state region.
The University of Washington School of Medicine is consistently recognized as one of the nation's top schools for training physicians, and one of the nation's leading research institutions.
The UW School of Medicine is committed to building and sustaining a multicultural community that fosters equity, diversity and inclusion. We believe that this is achieved by intentionally creating opportunities for involvement, participation and growth for each individual and by nurturing a positive institutional climate through professional development, education, policy and practice.
The UW School of Medicine is committed to the promotion of professionalism in our community of faculty, staff, trainees and students. To support this, the Committee for Continuous Professionalism Improvement (CPI) was created. The CPI Committee is charged with overseeing and promoting professionalism throughout the medical school and all teaching sites.
- The WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho) states make up 27% of the land mass of the United States but contain only 3.3% of the population.
- The UW School of Medicine is the only five-state medical school in the country.
- The school is nationally recognized for its innovative regional training program.
- Students from Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho complete the Foundations phase of the curriculum in small learning groups in their respective home states.
- Students from Washington attend their Foundations phase in Seattle or Spokane.
- Regional Clerkship Sites: UWSOM prides itself on the depth and breadth of excellent clinical educational opportunities available throughout all of the five states that comprise the WWAMI medical education program. The regional nature of our medical school allows our students to experience the entire gamut of medical care, both rural and urban, including private practice, community health care centers, community hospitals, tertiary care hospitals and quaternary care hospitals.
The UW School of Medicine provides opportunities for training with providers in all types of medical care settings.
- Tertiary care: UW Medical Center; Seattle Children’s Hospital; VA Puget Sound Health Care System; Harborview Medical Center (level 1 trauma center)
- Affiliated Community Hospitals
- Community Healthcare Centers (urban and rural)
- Private Practices (urban and rural)
- International Health Clinics (local and abroad)
- Indian Health Service Clinics: A distinguishing characteristic of UWSOM is interdisciplinary collaboration. Scientists, educators and clinicians are dedicated to helping each other reach the common goals of improving people's health and alleviating suffering from disease.
- Since 1974 the UW School of Medicine has ranked consistently among the top three schools in receipt of National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant funding.
- More than a hundred UW spinoffs and startups are in the biotechnology, medical devices, or general health and medicine sectors.
- M.D./Ph.D. Program (MSTP) The Medical Scientist Training Program is designed for highly qualified candidates who wish to obtain both M.D. and Ph.D. degrees and to pursue careers in basic medical research.
- Ph.D. Programs The UW School of Medicine provides advanced scientific training toward Ph.D. degrees in biomedical research in a resource-rich, collaborative environment dedicated to scientific discovery.
Clinical experiences are available at 50+ sites for required clerkships in addition to 100+ RUOP sites and 15 WRITE sites. TRACKs are also available to allow students to spend an entire year in one WWAMI state.
- RUOP: Rural Underserved Opportunities Program, a four-week, elective immersion experience in community medicine for students between their first and second years of medical school.
- WRITE: WWAMI Rural Integrated Training Experience, a 20-week, rural clinical medical training experience for a pre-selected group of third-year medical students.
- TRACK: WWAMI State Track Program, allows a select group of students to complete most of the required clerkships scheduled in one specific site/state throughout the WWAMI region during their third or fourth year of medical school.
- TRUST: Our Targeted Rural Underserved Track Program is available in Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho and is an integrated program for students interested in rural or underserved medicine. Beginning the summer before medical school and continuing throughout the curriculum, TRUST scholars participate in clinical and classroom experiences, online discussions, and regional or national conferences, exposing them to the satisfaction, challenges and lifestyle of a physician practicing in rural and underserved areas.
UWSOM Medical Student Education Program Strategic Plan
Mission Statement
The University of Washington School of Medicine Medical Student Education Program will improve the health of the public by educating inquisitive, compassionate physicians who serve the evolving healthcare needs of diverse individuals while striving for healthcare justice and equity.
Vision Statement
Empowering students to become the physicians they aspire to be through innovative regional medical education.
Values
The UWSOM MSEP Values will be integrated within our strategic priorities, outcomes, and decision making to guide our path forward.
- Collaboration
- Excellence
- Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
- Respect
- Stewardship
- Student Engagement & Leadership
Strategic Priorities
In order to achieve our Mission and Vision and to serve our students well, the MSEP will focus on the following Strategic Priorities over the next 5 years. These will be key to driving us towards our Mission and Vision in an outcomes-based manner.
- Optimize the Medical Student Education Program governance structure and align resources to meet regional needs.
- Foster collaborative and innovative regional medical education that recognizes the attributes of regional sites.
- Become an inclusive and anti racist medical student education program that dismantles all types of oppression in the learning environment.
- Instill a continuous quality improvement culture throughout UWSOM's medical student education program.
- Support faculty and staff education and lifelong learning across the region to optimize teaching outcomes as well as fostering recruitment, retention, and recognition.
The UW School of Medicine has undergone many innovative changes over the past 40 years. The Colleges was incorporated to provide consistent mentoring in clinical skills, professionalism and patient-centered care. The Colleges structure helps make a large university intimate.
- 8 colleges
- 6-7 faculty mentors in each college
- 6-7 students per year for each faculty mentor
Medical students can select one or more of nine pathways to develop knowledge and skills specifically tailored to working with vulnerable populations here and abroad. Each Pathway allows students to organize their courses, clinical rotations and volunteer opportunities around a particular community, population, or aspect of underserved medicine with mentorship from faculty, staff and community providers and partners who share those interests.
- Black Health Justice Pathway
- Global Health Pathway
- Indian Health Pathway
- Latinx Health Pathway
- LGBTQ Pathway
- Underserved Pathway
- Humanities and the Arts Pathway (HAP)
- The Spokane Leadership Pathway
- The Clinical and Translational Research Pathway
M.D. Program policies
M.D. Program compliance
Graduate Medical Education policies
Meet our leaders
Timothy H. Dellit, MD
Chief Executive Officer, UW Medicine
Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs and
Paul G. Ramsey Endowed Dean of the School of Medicine,
University of Washington
Alexander Chiu, MD
Executive Vice Dean, UW School of Medicine
Senior Vice President for Medical Affairs
Suzanne M. Allen, MD, MPH
Vice Dean for Academic, Rural and Regional Affairs
Byron Joyner, MD
Vice Dean for Graduate Medical Education and Designated Institutional Official
Patricia Kritek, MD, EdM
Vice Dean for Faculty Affairs
Julie Reid
Vice Dean for Administration and Finance
Shelly Sakiyama-Elbert, PhD
Vice Dean for Research and Graduate Education
Bessie Young, MD, MPH
Vice Dean for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
John Amory, MD, MPH, MSc
Associate Dean for Translational Science
Jennifer Best, MD
Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education
Anne Browning, PhD
Chief Well-Being Officer, UW Medicine; Associate Dean of Well-Being, University of Washington School of Medicine
Christopher Goss, MD
Associate Dean for Clinical Research, Office of Research & Graduate Education (RGE)
Cindy A. Hamra, JD, MA
Associate Dean for Operations and Administration, Graduate Medical Education
Ashlee Harty
Associate Dean for Academic and Staff, Human Resources
Marshall S. Horwitz, MD, PhD
Associate Dean for Physician-Scientist
Paul James, MD
Associate Dean for Primary Care
Bill Mahoney
Associate Dean for Research Education & Training
Jim Manthey
Associate Dean and Chief Financial Officer
Heather McPhillips, MD
Associate Dean for Curriculum
Angela Moore, MHA
Associate Dean for Administration and Operations
LeeAnna Muzquiz, MD
Associate Dean for Admissions
Darryl Potyk, MD
Associate Dean for Eastern Washington
Gabriel E. Sarah, MD, MAEd
Associate Dean for Student Affairs
Tueng T. Shen, MD, PhD
Associate Dean for Medical Technology Innovation
Mike Tribble
Associate Dean of Regulatory and Business Affairs
Nathan White, MD
Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Education
Jesse Markman, MD, MPH
Acting Associate Dean and Chief of Staff, VA Puget Sound Healthcare System
Thomas Staiger, MD
Associate Dean, UW Medical Center
Leslie Walker-Harding, MD, FAAP, FSAHM
Associate Dean and Chief Academic Officer, Seattle Children's
David Zonies, MD, MPH, MBA,
Associate Dean and Medical Director, Harborview Medical Center
Andrés Barría, PhD
Assistant Dean for Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI)
Giana H. Davidson, MD, MPH
Assistant Dean for Professionalism
Kellie Engle
Assistant Dean for Educational Quality Improvement
Molly Jackson, MD
Assistant Dean for the Colleges
Joshua Jauregui, MD
Assistant Dean for Clinical Curriculum
Edwin Lindo, JD
Assistant Dean for Social and Health Justice
John McCarthy, MD
Assistant Dean for Rural Programs
Leo Morales, MD, PhD
Assistant Dean for Quality Improvement/Outcomes Research
Maya Sardesai, MD, MEd
Assistant Dean for Student Development
Michelle Terry, MD
Assistant Dean for URMS Career Development
Edith Wang, PhD
Assistant Dean for Basic Science
Janelle Clauser, MD
Gonzaga University
Rayme Geidl, MD
Interim Regional Dean, University of Idaho
Todd Guth, MD
University of Wyoming
Nicholas Phelps, PhD, MA
University of Alaska
Brant Schumaker, DVM, MPVM, PhD
Montana State University
Breana (Bre) Taylor, MD
Assistant Dean for Seattle Foundations
Devin Sawyer, MD
Western Washington
Geoffry Jones, MD
Eastern and Central Washington
Darin Eckert, MD
Spokane, Washington
Robert Monger, MD
Wyoming
Barbara Doty, MD
Alaska
Jay S. Erickson, MD
Montana
Serena Brewer, DO
Montana
Mary Barinaga, MD
Idaho
Frank Batcha, MD
Idaho
Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine
G. Burkhard Mackensen, MD, PhD, FASE
Biochemistry
Justin Kollman, PhD
Department of Bioengineering
Princess Imoukhuede, PhD
Bioethics and Humanities
Amy Hinterberger, PhD
Biomedical Informatics and Medical Education
Peter Tarczy-Hornoch, MD
Comparative Medicine
Raimon Duran-Struuck, DVM, PhD
Dermatology
Paul Nghiem, MD, PhD
Emergency Medicine
(Interim Chair)
Steven H. Mitchell, MD
Family Medicine
(Interim Chair)
Bianca Frogner, MD
Genome Sciences
Maitreya Dunham, PhD
Global Health
Heidi van Rooyen, PhD
Health Metrics Sciences
Christopher J.L. Murray, MD, DPhil
Immunology
Marion Pepper, PhD
Laboratory Medicine and Pathology
Geoffrey Baird, MD, PhD
Medicine
(Interim Chair)
Patricia Kritek, MD, EdM
Microbiology
David Sherman, PhD
Neurological Surgery
Richard G. Ellenbogen, MD
Neurology
Thabele “Bay” Leslie-Mazwi, MD
Obstetrics and Gynecology
Barbara Goff, MD
Ophthalmology
Russell Van Gelder, MD, PhD
Orthopaedic Surgery and Sports Medicine
Howard Chansky, MD
Otolaryngology / Head and Neck Surgery
Neal D. Futran, MD, DMD
Pediatrics
Leslie Walker, MD, FAAP, FSAHM
Pharmacology
John D. Scott, FRS
Neurobiology & Biophysics
Elizabeth Buffalo, PhD
Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Jürgen Unützer, MD, MPH, MA
Radiation Oncology
Ramesh Rengan, MD, PhD
Radiology
Dushyant Sahani, MD
Rehabilitation Medicine
Janna L. Friedly, MD, MPH
Surgery
Douglas E. Wood, MD
Urology
(Interim Chair)
Dan Lin, MD
Support next-generation medical education.
Our programs empower future medical professionals dedicated to elevating health in rural and underserved communities in our region and around the world. The UW School of Medicine offers a number of ways to invest in tomorrow’s leaders. From donating to our scholarship fund to supporting the continuation of the WWAMI program or giving the gift of medical research, there are many giving opportunities to explore.