A Letter from the Dean

Creating an unparalleled student experience. Thinking differently. Working as a team to tackle global problems. Improving lives.

These core Dartmouth tenets were on full display during my visit to Peru this summer. I saw Dartmouth undergraduate and medical students side-by-side learning about the Peruvian health system and examining conditions first hand. I witnessed our students and faculty exploring ideas with Peruvian counterparts. I experienced a deep commitment to work together, share knowledge, and do some good.

I've now been at Dartmouth for two years, and it's these types of experiences—seeing our students and their passion to improve lives in action—that reenergize me and reinforce what an honor and privilege it is to be part of the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.

Speaking of passion, about 300 Medical School alumni and their guests descended on Hanover for the fall Medical School Alumni Reunion, a 50% increase over last year.

The returning '2 and '7 reunion classes raised $252,746 in gifts and pledges, and 48% of the alumni celebrating a reunion participated. Special thanks to the 12 members of the Class of 1952 celebrating their 60th reunion, who achieved a 93% rate in their reunion giving.

The support of our alumni is one example of the momentum at the Medical School. Another measure is student achievement and success, highlighted by:

• Our 2012 entering class, which is once again academically outstanding, and—I'm proud to share—our most diverse class ever, in terms of racial and ethnic diversity. This year's class—selected by the admissions committee from an applicant pool of more than 5,200 individuals—is diverse in other ways as well: 57% are women, more than 20% identified themselves in their application materials as "disadvantaged," and 17% are in the first generation of their family to graduate from college.
  
  
• Two Geisel students, Alexandra Coria and Laura Ostapenko, who are among just 18 fourth-year medical students selected nationally for Physicians of Tomorrow Awards by the American Medical Association Foundation. Dartmouth is the only medical school in the country to have two medical students selected for these $10,000 scholarships, which are based upon academics, financial need, and community involvement.

In addition, the Dartmouth Board of Trustees has endorsed the Geisel 2020 Plan for Excellence, and our Board of Overseers' members are providing valuable insight into how we can achieve the ambitious goals of the plan. We have been successful in recruiting new faculty and have a timeline for the Williamson Translational Research Building and the North Campus Academic Center construction.

This support and progress only happens because of our people: our remarkable students, faculty, and staff, committed alumni and friends, the Board of Overseers, and our many partners—be they in New England, California . . . or Peru.

Thank you for being an important part of the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.

Wiley "Chip" Souba, M.D., Sc.D., M.B.A.
Vice-President for Health Affairs, Dartmouth College
Dean, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth