BUSM Clinical Facilities
Research Growth on the Boston University Medical Campus
To promote research excellence, the Boston University School of Medicine recruited faculty, enhanced existing research programs, established new ones, and built modern research facilities to support them. Since 1991, total research space has more than doubled. Approximately 437,000 square feet of new research space has been created and 122,000 square feet fully renovated. The BioSquare development project is helping to meet future research needs of the Medical Campus and provide research space for biotechnology and pharmaceutical corporate tenants.
These initiatives have facilitated the expansion of research on a broad front involving both basic and clinical investigations. New centers of excellence have been created, and major new programs in translational research have been developed to facilitate the rapid transfer of laboratory discoveries to clinical applications at the bedside.
Approximately half of the active contracts and grants for research and training focus on clinical research.
Boston Medical Center
Boston Medical Center is a private, not-for-profit, 482-licensed-bed, academic medical center located in Boston’s historic South End. The hospital is the primary teaching affiliate for Boston University School of Medicine. Boston Medical Center emphasizes community-based care, with its mission to provide consistently accessible health services to all. The largest safety-net hospital in New England, Boston Medical Center provides a full spectrum of pediatric and adult care services, from primary to family medicine to advanced specialty care, as well as outreach programs, particularly for the city’s homeless population. Nationally recognized services include programs in cardiovascular medicine, cancer, trauma, geriatrics, Parkinson’s disease, arthritis, infectious diseases including AIDS, and spinal cord injuries. In addition, the hospital operates the nation’s first home medical program, which began in 1875.
Focusing strongly on urban health, Boston Medical Center is a founder of Boston HealthNet, a partnership of the hospital, Boston University School of Medicine, and 15 neighborhood health centers located throughout Boston. HealthNet members provide outreach, prevention, primary care, and dental services during nearly one million patient visits per year. The hospital annually has more than 130,000 emergency department visits to the region’s busiest Level One trauma center. It has more than 5,250 employees and 1,000 physicians.
The hospital is approved for internship and residency training by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education of the American Medical Association.
Boston VA Medical Center
The Boston VA Medical Center, located on three campuses in the Jamaica Plain and West Roxbury sections of Boston and in Brockton, is a major patient care, teaching, and research facility of the VA Healthcare System. Inpatient tertiary care services are concentrated at the West Roxbury campus, while ambulatory care is provided at all three campuses and in many satellite clinics. A full spectrum of mental health services are offered at the three campuses, with large inpatient facilities at Brockton. The hospital offers primary care and also serves as a referral center for specialized care from other VA facilities throughout New England. The VA is a national leader in the provision of quality health care and offers superior coordination of care through an advanced, integrated, fully electronic medical record.
Boston University School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School share responsibility for the academic programs at the hospital. The deans of the two medical schools co-chair the Dean’s Committee, which oversees educational activities and academic appointments. Medical students and residents from both schools and their other affiliated hospitals rotate to the Boston VA Medical Center for clinical instruction, including clerkships and electives in internal medicine, surgery, neurology, psychiatry, and the various medical and surgical subspecialties.
The Boston VA Medical Center conducts a vigorous program of medical research. Included are major activities in epidemiology, health services research, women’s health, cognitive neuroscience, and a broad spectrum of basic laboratory research.
Kaiser Foundation Hospitals
Kaiser Permanente is the largest (non-federal) not-for-profit integrated health care system in the United States, providing health care to 9 million people in 8 US regions. Boston University School of Medicine has partnered with Kaiser Foundation Hospitals to establish a branch campus in Northern California for required clinical clerkship rotations.
Kaiser Permanente’s Northern California offices and hospitals have 64,000 employees and 7,400 physicians within 40 medical offices and 18 hospitals.
Other Clinical Affiliates
Other clinical affiliates that train medical students and residents include: Framingham MetroWest Medical Center, Framingham, MA; Cape Cod Hospital, Hyannis, MA; VA Boston Healthcare System, Greater Boston, MA; over 50 private physician offices and more than 20 general and specialty hospitals in Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.
