Dean of Harvard Medical School (HMS), Joseph Martin, MD, PhD addressed members of BWH at the start of the new year through his presentation, “The Harvard Medical Community 2002: Progress and Prospects.” The presentation covered the current state of affairs at the medical school and was sponsored by BWH’s Medical Staff Organization. Building bridges was a prominent theme in Martin’s presentation, as he spoke about the construction of the new research building, BWH’s plans for the Center for Advanced Medicine and described the chords that connect HMS to its affiliate institutions.
Martin highlighted the strong collaboration of BWH, HMS and the local community in planning for the new Center for Advanced Medicine. There also was much enthusiasm surrounding Martin’s discussion of HMS’s new 430,000 square foot research building, scheduled to be completed in the Fall of 2003. Martin noted that at the core of this project were the goals of “true integration and a multidisclipinary approach to medicine.” “The new building will accelerate the translation of research from bench to bedside,” he said. A huge portion of the research building will become home to systems and integrated biological work, including the Partners Center for Genomics and Genetics and other BWH-led research initiatives.
In addition to giving the audience a glimpse into the future of medicine in the Longwood Medical Area, Martin shared a snapshot of the current HMS student community. The portrait of HMS’s student body is a diverse one: of the approximately 100 students enrolled in this year’s Division of Medical Sciences PhD program, 14 different countries and 60 different universities are represented, and more than half of the students are women. Of the 826 medical students, 48 percent of the student body is comprised of minorities.
After providing an overview of the school’s demographics, Martin described some of the innovative solutions HMS has developed, such as their new Academy for medical education. This initiative, according to Martin, “is driven by the recognition that it is increasingly difficult for a community of practitioners in our hospitals to find the time required to deliver the teaching they wish to do and which students expect and deserve.”
In his closing remarks Martin thanked the team of physicians and leaders at BWH for their support and imagination over the past year in helping HMS and its affiliate institutions to make a positive impact on the community and fulfill its mission of service, education and research.
In response to Martin's presentation, Victor Dzau, MD, chair, Department of Medicine and Director of Research at BWH, offered his feedback. “Thanks to the leadership of Dr. Martin, BWH has benefited tremendously from HMS
initiatives-as have all Harvard-affiliated institutions-both in the last year and
for the foreseeable future. I applaud BWH physicians and researchers as they thoughtfully put these exceptional opportunities to good use.”