As another calendar year ends, I invite you to take a moment and review all that we have accomplished. I am deeply grateful for each of your contributions and proud of all that we have accomplished as a team. Thank you, and I look forward to our continued work in 2026!
Hello, and happy holidays. We accomplished so much this year in the Office of Education. I want to take this opportunity to highlight a few of our achievements, acknowledge the challenges we faced, and look forward to our future.
Let’s talk about some of our accomplishments this year.
We hosted our first Goldstein Visiting Professorship, where we explored issues of AI in medical education. We successfully created and launched the Developing Faculty Competencies and Assessment Program. This is a partnership between the ACGME and our Academy of Educators. We saw the completion of an external review of our DBBS program and initiation of the planning process for admissions, curriculum, and student support enhancements, ensuring that we continue to train the world’s best scientists.
We received great Accreditation results in Genetic Counseling, Occupational Therapy, and Audiology. Physical Therapy continues to lead the nation in the conversation about competency-based education, and they hosted the first-ever national symposium on competency-based education in PT, with leaders from all their national organizations and faculty from around the country.
The program in Audiology and Communication Sciences and our MSTP program were each awarded important and prestigious training grants.
We launched a new community hub in collaboration with our Danforth partners, including the “In St. Louis, For St. Louis” initiative, Gephart, and the Confluence Collaborative, as well as many of our community partners.
We launched new data science and AI graduate programs, building the next generation of scientists and dual degree students in this important area.
We opened new internal medicine and transitional year residencies at Missouri Baptist. And of course, we experienced the cycle of education life, saying see you soon to our students, residents, and fellows who’ve moved on to their next stage, and welcoming in our new group who refresh us, challenge us, and help us to grow.
And this is nowhere near a comprehensive list of our individual and collective accomplishments.
This past year has not been without challenges.
The devastating Spring tornado impacted many of our students, house staff, faculty and staff, and perhaps permanently impacted many of our most at-risk communities. It’s also changed the landscape of Forest Park for the foreseeable future.
Cuts to federal research, government shutdowns, and threats to Medicaid, student loans, and other mission-critical areas have caused incredible disruption, fear, and instability.
We made the difficult decision to withhold merit raises and limit spending across the university and here on the Medical Campus. And this has led to hardship for many in our WashU community.
We also said goodbye to some colleagues who moved on to other roles or challenges, retired or moved away. We miss them all. And unfortunately, several of our team members suffered illness or personal loss. Despite these challenges, we have not only persevered but excelled.
Our strength and excellence lies in our collective resilience, our shared commitment to our mission, and our unwavering support for one another and our broader community. Every day, whether you know it or not, you make an impact on the lives of our learners, our team, and our community. And together, the fruits of our collective work build the current and future health and science workforce.
Through the contributions we are making now and the work our trainees will go on to do, we provide hope and kindness to the sick and support discoveries and contributions that will extend life and reduce suffering.
In 2026, we will continue to evolve.
We’ll see ongoing curricular changes across all programs with exciting ideas emerging in graduate education in particular. We’ll see innovation, including the thoughtful incorporation of AI into our teaching, research, and clinical care, but also the work we do behind the scenes in education. We’ll continue to grow our scholarly work so we can tell the world about the amazing things we do here every day. And we will continue our strong commitment and investment in our students and trainees, our faculty and staff, and our community, both here at WashU and in our region. I feel certain there will be changes we cannot foresee, both challenges and opportunities. But we will overcome, for what we do really matters, not just to us, but to all we serve, locally, nationally, and globally. I extend my deepest gratitude to each of you for your dedication, compassion, and perseverance.
Your contributions are invaluable, and it is through your efforts that we will continue to thrive as the best medical school in the world. Thank you. Wishing you a happy holiday season and peace, joy, love, and laughter in the new year.