Entering Class The Office of Admissions received 5,883 applications for the 172-member Class of 2008, which consists of 95 men and 77 women. This class is the most talented group of medical students ever to matriculate at Northwestern. Incoming students had a mean college grade point average of 3.7 and an average Medical College Admission Test score of 11.1, up from 10.7 last year. Twenty six students are from populations underrepresented in medicine.

Educational Space Much needed educational space came on line during the year. In September the 182-seat Daniel Hale Williams Auditorium was dedicated in the McGaw Pavilion of the Health Sciences Building. Dr. Williams, who graduated from the medical school in 1883, was the school’s first African American alumnus and faculty member and was among the first to successfully perform surgery on the human heart. The auditorium and several classrooms in the McGaw Pavilion serve as the home base for second-year medical students. The April opening of the $200 million Robert H. Lurie Medical Research Center of Northwestern University also brought additional educational space. In the more than 100 new laboratories, graduate students in the life sciences and postdoctoral fellows continue their education, working alongside faculty mentors. The first floor of the building serves as a home base for the school’s first-year medical students. This includes two auditoriums (one of which can seat an entire medical school class) and several classrooms.

Accreditation In June the Feinberg School of Medicine received accreditation for an eight-year term from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, which noted the following institutional strengths: the dean has been successful in implementing his vision for the school, established a governance structure that fosters achievement of the school’s missions, and earned the respect of the academic community. the school has bright and enthusiastic students who enjoy the educational environment that encourages self-directed learning, enhancing their commitment to their education and deepening their appreciation for the accessibility and support of the faculty. the rapidly expanding faculty exhibits demonstrable commitment to student learning and well-being and to the inculcation of appropriate professional values among students.

Augusta Webster Fellows In August five faculty members were selected as recipients of Augusta Webster Grants for Educational Innovation: Patricia M. Garcia, MD, GME ’91, MPH; Lee A. Lindquist, MD ’00, GME ’04, MPH ’05; Peter S. Pang, MD; Carla M. Pugh, MD, PhD; and Nancy Schindler, MD, GME ’98. Established in 1991 by an anonymous donor, the Augusta Webster Grants recognize Augusta Webster, MD, a member of the Class of 1934, who became the first female full professor at Northwestern’s medical school. In 1960 she was appointed chief of obstetrics and gynecology at Cook County Hospital, becoming the first woman in the country to head a department at a major teaching hospital.

IGP Growth This year’s entering class in the Integrated Graduate Program in the Life Sciences (IGP) comprises 44 students, making it the largest class ever admitted. The program also welcomed 13 new faculty members who represent all aspects of biomedical science and seven departments of the medical school.

PT Program Accredited The Department of Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences’ professional education program, which has been continuously accredited since 1927, was awarded renewal of accreditation for 10 years. This year U.S. News & World Report ranked the Doctor of Physical Therapy program 10th in the nation.

Genetic Counseling The Graduate Program in Genetic Counseling recently celebrated its 15th anniversary. During the past year, the program has expanded to accommodate 10 students yearly. Financial support for students was enhanced through increased work-study positions and the inauguration of the Northwestern Memorial Hospital Genetic Counseling Scholarship Program.

MSTP Growth The Medical Scientist Training Program, which offers MD and PhD degrees, celebrated its 18th year of continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health. The student body keeps growing; this year the program interviewed 77 candidates and accepted 11 students. Their average GPA is 3.77 and average MCAT score, 36. Sean Murphy (in his second year of the PhD program) won the NU Presidential Fellowship for advanced graduate students. Alison Bickford (in her first year of the PhD program) won the 2005 Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) Student Essay Competition

GME Progress The Northwestern McGaw graduate medical education programs continue to thrive, with more than 1,000 residents and fellows in training programs based at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Children’s Memorial Hospital, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, and Evanston Northwestern Healthcare. Northwestern increasingly attracts excellent candidates from medical schools throughout the country. In March, 231 of its 232 positions were filled through the National Resident Matching Program; 96 percent of this year’s entering class are graduates of U.S. medical schools, compared with 65 percent nationally.