Giving

Supporting the UVA Department of Medicine

The Department of Medicine’s mission is threefold: providing the highest quality clinical care for a wide spectrum of patients and diseases; educating and inspiring future leaders in the field of internal medicine; and supporting innovative basic and clinical research that translates new knowledge into meaningful improvements in healthcare outcomes.

Your gift can help support this vital mission.

Faculty Support

Provide funding to recruit and retain the best medical faculty.

The Department of Medicine seeks funding for endowed professorships to recruit and retain outstanding faculty. Endowed chairs help UVA compete with other universities for exceptional faculty and recognize and reward professors who are research or teaching leaders. The need for faculty support is particularly acute given the growing shortages of physicians nationwide and the intense competition to attract leaders in specific medical fields.

Clinical and Basic Research

Support the search for new cures and treatments of diseases.

UVA researchers are making great progress in finding new cures and treatments for diseases ranging from Alzheimer’s to cancer. Gifts to research, particularly seed funding, will help the Department of Medicine open doors to innovative new therapies and cures. Federal and state grant funding is highly competitive; early research support fosters innovation that makes government funding more likely down the road. The Department’s clinical research priorities include cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and hematology and oncology.

Student Experience

Meet an urgent need for medical scholarships.

UVA School of Medicine competes nationally for the best and brightest students. Scholarship support helps the school attract these students. Medical school is increasingly expensive, with the average student graduating with more than $100,000 in debt, not counting undergraduate debt. At UVA, only one-fourth the cost of attending medical school is currently provided through need-based aid. Attracting outstanding students and helping them succeed depends on increasing the school’s available need- and merit-based scholarships and financial aid.

Strategic Education Initiatives

Drive the next generation of medical education.

The School of Medicine ranks among the nation’s leaders in incorporating new requirements and teaching models into the medical curriculum. Going forward, funding is needed to support new strategic education initiatives, including simulation training and clinical performance education, which give students immediate exposure to patient interaction and clinical cases. The Clinical Performance Education Center includes the Medical Simulation Center and Clinical Skills Training and Assessment Program—both of which enable students to practice, hone, and receive feedback on specific skills before facing real patients in the clinic.

For more information on supporting these initiatives in the Department of Medicine, contact Hunter Rothwell, associate director of development, medical alumni, at hunter.rothwell@virginia.edu or 800-297-0102.