In May 2010, a review of the George Washington University Medical Center was requested by the Medical Center Committee of the Board of Trustees. The request was motivated by several factors: the approaching 10th anniversary of the creation of the center’s current structure, the changing conditions of the health care marketplace as a result of local competition and health care reform legislation, and the university’s commitment to continue raising the center’s academic stature.
The first phase of the review has now been concluded. During this first phase, the university engaged a team of experts from BDC Advisors to perform an organizational assessment, with a particular focus on the current structural relationship between the center and the School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS).
The university is now beginning a second phase in which faculty and other stakeholders will be engaged in planning for the Medical Center’s future structure, vision and strategy. President Steven Knapp has asked Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Steven Lerman to form an advisory committee to facilitate the Phase II review process. Meanwhile, the university is in ongoing discussions with current Medical Center leadership to determine the best way to move forward.
To ensure the independence of the review’s next phase, James L. Scott, dean of SMHS, has notified President Knapp and Provost Lerman of his intention to step down from his current role as dean and return to his full-time faculty position in January.
“Jim Scott is an outstanding doctor and teacher,” says Dr. Lerman. “He has led the medical school ably and with distinction since 2003. During that period, the applicant pool has consistently been among the largest of any medical school in the country, and Jim’s leadership has ensured that a GW doctor is always ready for the practice of medicine in the real world.”
Dr. Scott, a professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine, has had a long and storied career at George Washington. He has received the Golden Apple award for outstanding teaching 10 times, and in 1997 he received the George Washington University Distinguished Teaching Award.
“I greatly admire Dr. Scott’s commitment to the George Washington medical community and am grateful that he will remain a part of it for years to come,” says Dr. Knapp.