About Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine

Established in 1973, Wright State University School of Medicine strives for excellence in educating physicians, conducting research, and providing continuing and graduate medical education programs — all within the context of preparing physicians to meet the health care needs of individual patients and society as a whole.

Clinical training for medical students and resident physicians takes place in a diverse range of health-care institutions throughout the Miami Valley. Instead of operating a single, university-based hospital, Wright State works with seven major teaching hospitals and has formal affiliation agreements with more than 20 other health care institutions in the community. In addition to 290 full-time faculty, almost 1,300 physicians in private practice and other health care professionals serve as clinical faculty.

While emphasizing the training of generalist physicians, Wright State's medical education model prepares graduates for the full spectrum of medical specialties. The school places a high value on patient-focused care, community service, and collaborative research. Students experience patient contact from the beginning of their first year and gain a broad clinical exposure in community settings. (See our Clinical Site Map.)

In addition to providing undergraduate medical education for about 400 medical students, the school has established dual-degree programs combining the M.D. with a Ph.D., Master of Business Administration, or Master of Public Health in a unique physician leadership development program. Integrated or affiliated graduate medical education programs are conducted in the following areas:

• Aerospace Medicine
• Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Dermatology
• Emergency Medicine
• Family Practice
• Gastroenterology
• General Surgery
• Hematology/Oncology
• Infectious Disease
• Internal Medicine
• Internal Medicine & Pediatrics
• Obstetrics/Gynecology
• Orthopaedic Surgery
• Pediatrics
• Psychiatry
• Sports Medicine

Wright State has one of the highest ratios of research funding to state appropriations among community-based medical schools nationwide. The school ranks 18th in the nation for National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding for public health and preventive medicine research. Major areas of research focus on addressing community needs, including AIDS prevention, addiction intervention and treatment, community health advocacy, cardiovascular risk factors associated with aging, and cancer prevention.

The Fels Longitudinal Study, which began in 1929 and became affiliated with the school in 1977, is the world's largest and longest continuously running study of human growth and development. The NIH has called the study “a national treasure.” Data gathered have been used to formulate national and international health policies and to develop pediatric growth charts used throughout the world.