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If you browse our web site, you will find that our faculty has indeed
achieved this vision. As the Division responsible for primary care in the Department of Medicine, we are justifiably proud that U.S. News & World Report recently ranked the University of Washington as the nation's top medical school for primary care medicine for the 11th consecutive year, and ranked UW's program in internal medicine 5th nationally.   In addition, 11 of our faculty are listed in the 2002 edition of Best Doctors in America, and Seattle Magazine rated eight GIM faculty among the "best doctors in Seattle" for 2002.

At the same time, the Division has been an integral part of the research mission of the University, which ranks third in the nation for total research funding. One indication of our national reputation is that four of our faculty members have served as presidents of the Society of General Internal Medicine, the major academic society of general internists.


Patient Care

very member of the faculty in the Division of General Internal Medicine spends a substantial amount of time providing the highest caliber health care to patients from all walks of life and all social circumstances. Division members deliver over 100,000 patient visits annually in a broad variety of clinical settings. Primary care is delivered at UWMC-Roosevelt General Internal Medicine Center, the Harborview Adult Medicine Clinic, the Pioneer Square Clinic, as well as other sites. Urgent and walk-in care is delivered in a number of these locations as well. In addition, our faculty staff women’s health centers at UWMC-Roosevelt and VAPSHCS, and specialized outpatient services at the International Medicine, Occupational & Environmental Medicine, and Chronic Fatigue Clinics at Harborview. Innovative clinical programs designed to help especially vulnerable patients include the Shelter Program, the Pioneer Square Respite Project and the VA Home-Based Primary Care Program.

Division faculty also provide the highest quality hospital care at UWMC, Harborview, and VAPSHCS.  We recently established a hospital medicine service, including the Medical Consult Service at UWMC, which performs over 1,500 consult exams annually, and the Consult Service at Harborview.


Research Activities

aculty in the Division of General Internal Medicine have achieved national prominence and made important research contributions to a wide variety of common and important clinical problems. Some of the topics addressed include: diagnosis and management of low back pain; epidemiologic studies of the benefits and hazards of commonly prescribed cardiac medications; studies on diagnosis and management of dementia; problems with interpretation of mammography results; prevention and treatment of foot ulcerations in diabetic patients; chronic fatigue syndrome; occupationally related illnesses; the role of white blood cells in preventing infection; the genetic bases of hematologic malignancies; and studies on providing optimal care to patients with HIV infection. Overall, faculty in the Division of General Internal Medicine receive nearly $20 million annually in extramural research funding.


Educational Programs

aculty from the Division of General Internal Medicine are extremely active throughout the UW hospital system as inpatient attendings for housestaff and students. In addition, they supervise residents and students in all of our clinical settings.  Our faculty serve many important administrative roles in the educational programs as well, including Head of the new UW School of Medicine College System for medical students, Clerkship Directors for third-year medical students at the three UW affiliated hospitals, Coordinators for outpatient resident teaching at the primary care clinics of each of our main teaching hospitals, and Directors of the UW Internal Medicine Residency Training Program.

In addition to teaching programs for medical students and residents, the Division sponsors four separately funded fellowship programs that have trained over 100 general internists with over 20 fellows currently in training. These four programs are: the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program, the National Research Service Award (NRSA) Primary Care Fellowship in General Internal Medicine, the Ambulatory Care/Health Services Research Fellowship Program at VAPSHCS, and the Occupational Medicine Fellowship Program. Approximately 80% of the graduates of these highly competitive fellowship programs assume faculty positions at the UW and other prestigious institutions after completing their training.


Administrative Activities

n addition to the many important Divisional responsibilities that faculty perform, several members have held important administrative responsibilities outside of the Division, including serving as Medical Directors and Associate Medical Directors at UWMC and HMC, Associate Dean of the UW School of Medicine, Associate Chiefs of Staff at VAPSHCS, and Chair of the Health Plans Board for the University of Washington.

As you can see, the breadth and diversity of our Division is apparent.  Nonetheless, our faculty is united by its dedication to our basic missions of patient care, teaching, and research. I hope that you will take the opportunity to peruse the remainder of our web site and get to know our faculty and programs better.  Please feel free to contact us if you have any comments or questions.

Warmest regards,



Stephan D. Fihn, M.D, M.P.H.
Professor and Head
Division of General Internal Medicine
Department of Medicine
University of Washington
Director, Health Services Research and Development Program
VA Puget Sound Health Care System

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Last reviewed: December 15, 2004 - Last updated: December 15, 2004 (gn)