Welcome to our Spring 2017 edition. I am incredibly proud of our students and trainees. They are a diverse, altruistic, exceptionally bright group who came to the George Washington University (GW) School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) to grow professionally and personally. Now, as we prepare to transition from one academic year to the next, I want to congratulate our outstanding graduates. I am proud of everything they have accomplished.
I’ve always felt enormous pride in being an alumnus and faculty member of SMHS. No, we don’t have a football team, and our sports teams don’t always draw national attention. However, I know that I received a great medical education and residency training at GW. And as dean, I know that we have an amazing group of talented and dedicated faculty and staff. I am unbelievably proud of them and the work that they do to make a difference in our students’ and patients’ lives; in the community; and, by advancing knowledge, in medicine at large.
The school’s reputation for creating tomorrow’s health professionals, advancing research, providing high-quality care, and effecting change in our local, national, and global communities has never been higher. When you read these stories touching on each aspect of our mission, I hope you share the same sense of pride as our students.
As the university moves closer to completing its Making History fundraising campaign, and as President Steven Knapp concludes his tenure here, I hope that your pride in SMHS leads you to make a gift to support our mission of being a world-class academic medical center. Our students and faculty who benefit from your philanthropy will be eternally grateful.
Jeffrey S. Akman, M.D. ’81, RESD ’85 Vice President for Health Affairs Walter A. Bloedorn Professor of Administrative Medicine and Dean, School of Medicine and Health Sciences
