Over the past ten years, Washington University School of Medicine has made education a strategic priority worthy of sustained investment. Not all of you were here for the ride, so I thought it would be good to tell the story, this month, the last month of Dr. Perlmutter’s ten-year tenure as Dean of the School of Medicine.
The results speak for themselves: nationally recognized curricula, top ranked professional training programs, a thriving graduate medical education enterprise, and an infrastructure that supports both learners and educators at every level. None of this happened by accident—and none of it happened overnight.
Standing on Strong Shoulders
The foundation for our shared accomplishments was laid well before I arrived. Dr. Alison Whelan, Dr. Mary Klingensmith, Dr. Kenneth Ludmerer, Dr. Carolyn Baum, Dr. Gammon Earhart, the Executive Faculty, and a host of exceptional educators had the vision and conviction to name education and the support of educators as an institutional priority. Their work created the conditions that made transformation possible. I am grateful to have inherited their momentum and honored to continue to build on it.
Critically, this decade of work was possible because of the steadfast support of Dr. David Perlmutter. None of what follows could have been accomplished without his commitment, his confidence in this work, and his willingness to invest in education as a core pillar of what WashU Medicine stands for.
Where We Started
A decade ago, the picture was more modest. Faculty development programming was limited and largely informal. Curriculum in most of our programs had not been substantially redesigned in years. MD student yield was declining, driven in part by dissatisfaction with the MD curriculum. Graduate medical education lacked unified benefits, central wellness infrastructure, or systematic support for ACGME requirements.
A handful of exceptional faculty—supported by the Loeb Fellowships and the Medical Education Research Unit—carried much of the educational innovation and scholarship work, but they were islands rather than a network. The Loeb Fellowships, it should be noted, were a genuine bright spot—a key program that recognized early and mid-career education faculty and invested in their career development. These fellowships would prove to be an important anchor as the broader infrastructure grew.
Building the Infrastructure
Recognizing that educational excellence requires more than good intentions, the School undertook a deliberate, phased investment in the people, systems, and spaces that make great education possible.
Faculty Support became a cornerstone. Salary support was extended to course and clerkship directors, content leads, and innovation teams—acknowledging that educational leadership is real work that deserves real recognition. The Academy of Educators was established, offering structured pathways for faculty to develop skills in teaching, curriculum design, program evaluation, assessment, leadership, and medical education research. The Loeb Fellowships were aligned with the strategic plan, amplifying the impact of faculty through dedicated 2-year support to teach and innovate.
An Instructional Design Studio was created to provide faculty with professional consulting and production support—from session design and interactive module creation to lightboard videos and flipped classroom development. Supported by instructional designers and creative professionals, faculty no longer have to navigate the technical dimensions of modern pedagogy alone. This proved critical in COVID.
Digital infrastructure and data strategy received sustained investment: a modern learning management system, upgraded classroom technology, data warehousing and visualization capabilities, and emerging AI integration. A dedicated team—including IT specialists and data managers—was built to support this work.
Space was redesigned to reflect how we learn. New small group spaces in the former Cori and Ehrlinger lecture halls provided the physical environment that active, team-based learning requires. Student lounges for study and relaxation were revamped and added to with careful attention to the many ways students study, work together, work alone, and relax.
Program evaluation and medical education scholarship were elevated as institutional priorities, ensuring that our educational innovations are studied, measured, and shared internally and with the field.
The more than doubling of education FTE and tripling of the budget over this period reflects the seriousness of this commitment—and the recognition that infrastructure is not overhead, it is investment.
Making Medicine Accessible
A world-class education must also be an accessible one. Today, approximately 78% of enrolling WashU MD students receive a scholarship, and 69% graduate with no medical school debt at all. The median debt among those who do borrow has been substantially reduced and is one of the lowest in the country. This is not simply a financial achievement—it is a statement about who we believe should have access to a career in medicine. In fact, we are one of the only schools that repurposes operational dollars to support scholarships. We have begun to extend this support to other professional programs as well. Finally, in this year of increasing pressures on federal student loans, we are working to create WashU loans for all students at WashU Medicine who need them.
Curriculum Transformation
In 2020—amid the extraordinary challenges of a global pandemic—WashU Medicine launched a redesigned MD curriculum. That it succeeded despite COVID is a testament to the infrastructure investments made in the preceding years and the commitment of the faculty and staff who designed and implemented it. The result is now recognized as among the most advanced competency-based MD curricula in the United States.
The Department of Physical Therapy has earned parallel distinction: WashU’s PT program launched the first competency-based PT curriculum in the nation and continues to hold the #1 ranking. OT is similarly moving toward a competency-based model and Audiology is shifting to a shortened three-year program, while maintaining its exceptional clinical training levels.
Student satisfaction with education across programs has risen markedly as a result. These numbers reflect something real: learners who feel prepared, supported, and engaged.
Graduate Medical Education
The transformation of graduate medical education deserves special mention. The GME Board was restructured and revitalized. All fellows were converted to WashU employment; all residents are BJC employed. Benefits—including salary, childcare support, parental leave, and fertility benefits—were unified and improved across programs.
Perhaps most meaningfully, a robust GME wellbeing infrastructure was built from the ground up: a half-time psychiatrist, three in-house psychologists, an extensive referral structure, a meal card program for all residents and fellows, and an Annual Chief Resident Retreat designed to build leadership, camaraderie, and engagement with hospital and WashU Medicine leadership.
The results are reflected in our ACGME standing: all 111 accredited programs are in good standing, and trainee satisfaction now exceeds the national mean. A recent ACGME institutional site visitor noted that we were a model of GME excellence.
New Programs and What’s Next
The past decade also saw the launch of several new and outstanding graduate programs: Medical Physics (MS and PhD), Biomedical Data Science and AI (MS), Biomedical Informatics & Data Science (PhD), MS in Genetic Counseling, Post-Professional OTD, MS in Reproductive Sciences, and PhD in Nursing Science.
Looking ahead, work is underway on DBBS modernization, with a recent successful retreat focused on student support and success.
A Culture, Not Just a Curriculum
What these ten years represent, taken together, is not simply a series of programmatic improvements. They represent a shift in institutional culture—a shared conviction that education is central to the mission of an academic medical center, and that educators deserve the investment, recognition, and support that their work demands.
That conviction began with leaders who came before. It has been sustained by a Dean who believed in it. And it continues with a community of faculty, staff, and learners who show up every day to do this work exceptionally well. Thank you to Dean Perlmutter, the Dean’s Senior Leadership Team, the Executive Faculty, and to each and every educational leader, faculty member, and staff member who has contributed to these accomplishments. I am so immensely proud of what we have accomplished together, and I hope you are too.