Oregon Health & Science University

Oregon Health & Science University
Motto	Where Healing, Teaching and Discovery Come Together
Established	1974
Type	Public
President	Joseph Robertson
Postgraduates	3,900
Location	Portland, and Hillsboro, Oregon, USA 45°29′54″N 122°41′08″W / 45.49833°N 122.68556°W / 45.49833; -122.68556Coordinates: 45°29′54″N 122°41′08″W / 45.49833°N 122.68556°W / 45.49833; -122.68556
Campus	Urban
Website	www.ohsu.edu

Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) is a public university in Oregon with a main campus, including two hospitals, in Portland and a smaller campus in Hillsboro. It was formed in 1974 as the University of Oregon Health Sciences Center, combining state dentistry, medicine, and nursing programs into a single center.

It was renamed Oregon Health Sciences University in 1981 and took its current name in 2001, as part of a merger with the Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and Technology (OGI), in Hillsboro. In addition, the university has several partnership programs including a joint PharmD Pharmacy program with Oregon State University.

History

The university can trace its roots back to the 1860s when the predecessor Willamette University School of Medicine was started in Salem.^[1] Willamette University and the University of Oregon merged their medical programs in 1913, creating the University of Oregon schools of Medicine and Nursing. In 1945, the North Pacific College of Dentistry was merged into the school, becoming the University of Oregon School of Dentistry.^[2]

This lasted until 1974 when the state mandated the combination of those three schools into one freestanding University, independent of the University of Oregon. Its primary campus was established in 1917 by the donation of 20 acres (8.1 ha) from the Oregon-Washington Railroad and Navigation Company and 88 acres (36 ha) from C.S. "Sam" Jackson, publisher of the now-defunct Oregon Journal. The land had originally been bought sight-unseen for the purpose of building a railroad yard. The area being on a hill, however, made this impossible.

In 2006, the animal rights group PETA incited some controversy over OHSU research involving sheep.^[3] The research, which is being conducted in conjunction with Oregon State University is designed to understand the biological mechanisms involved in sexual partner preference.^[4] These experiments are being funded through public grants through the year 2008.

Physicians Pavilion at Marquam Hill campus

On October 29, 2008, OHSU announced its largest philanthropic gift to date: a $100 million gift from Nike co-founder Phil Knight and his wife Penny Knight. The gift went to the OHSU Cancer Institute, renaming it the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute.^[5]

Campuses

The main campus, located on Marquam Hill (colloquially known as "Pill Hill") in the southwest neighborhood of Homestead, is home to the university's medical school as well as two associated hospitals. The Oregon Health & Science University Hospital is a Level I trauma center and general hospital; Doernbecher Children's Hospital is a children's hospital which specializes in pediatric medicine and care of children with long-term illness. The university maintains a number of outpatient primary care facilities including the Physician's Pavilion at the Marquam Hill campus as well as throughout the Portland metropolitan area.

A third hospital, the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center^[6] is located next to the main OHSU campus; this hospital is run by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs and is outside the auspices of OHSU. A 1992 pedestrian bridge connecting OHSU Hospital and the VA Medical Center is the longest suspended pedestrian skybridge in North America, with a length of 660 feet (200 m).

The main OHSU campus sits atop Marquam Hill

Additionally, the Portland Shriners Hospital for Children is located on the OHSU campus. The University also has a campus in Hillsboro, at the site of the former OGI. This campus specializes in graduate-level science and engineering education, and is located in the heart of Oregon's Silicon Forest. Since 1998, the university has controlled the Oregon National Primate Research Center, located adjacent to OGI in Hillsboro.

With the Marquam Hill campus running out of room for expansion, beginning in 2003 OHSU announced plans to expand into the South Waterfront District, formerly known as the North Macadam District. The expansion area is along the Willamette River in the South Portland neighborhood to the east of Marquam Hill and south of the city center. The newly-constructed Center for Health & Healing earned LEED Platinum certification in February 2007, becoming the largest health care center in the U.S. to achieve that status. As existing surface streets were deemed insufficient to connect the two campuses, the new Portland Aerial Tram was built as the primary link between them and opened December 1, 2006. Controversy surrounded the costs of the tram,^[7] which nearly quadrupled from initial estimates. Construction of the tram was funded largely by OHSU ($40 million, 70%), with contributions from the city of Portland ($8.5 million, 15%) and developers and landowners in the South Portland neighborhood.^[8]

Center for Health and Healing at the South Waterfront campus

On January 8, 2008, OHSU announced that it will establish a research institute at the Florida Center for Innovation at Tradition in the Tradition community in Port St. Lucie, Florida.^[9] The institute eventually will employ 200 workers. Institute scientists will study infectious diseases of the elderly, AIDS and other infectious diseases and viruses. OHSU will work out of the adjacent Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies until its own center is completed. A $117.9 million financial incentive package from the state of Florida secured OHSU’s commitment.

Academics

School of Medicine

The OHSU School of Medicine confers a variety of degrees, including Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Philosophy, Master of Science, Master of Physician Assistant Studies, and Master of Public Health. In 2011, the US News and World Report ranked OHSU amongst the top medical schools in the country, placing the school 3rd overall in Primary Care Rankings and 36th in Research Rankings. In addition, the publication ranked the school 2nd in Family Medicine and 5th in Rural Medicine specialties.^[10] As the only medical school in Oregon, OHSU is committed to meeting the health care needs of the state with typically 70% of the students from in-state. Admissions is highly competitive, with the school receiving over 4,500 applications and interviewing approximately 550 applicants for 115 seats. The average GPA of the entering class is 3.63 with a median MCAT score of 31.^[11] In addition, the Physician Assistant program was most recently ranked 6th by U.S. News & World Report'".^[12]

School of Nursing

Student Center on the main campus

The School of Nursing at OHSU offers nursing programs at the undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral levels. The graduate nursing program was most recently ranked 7th overall in the nation by the US News and World Report and 5th in the gerontology/geriatric specialty.^[13]

School of Dentistry

OHSU's School of Dentistry was merged into the university in 1945.^[14] Accredited through the Commission on Dental Accreditation, the school has departments in endodontics, orthodontics, pathology and radiology, oral and maxillofacial surgery, periodontics, and pediatric dentistry, among others. The D.M.D. program admits 75 students each year. A new building that will house the School of Dentistry is under construction at the South Waterfront campus, expected to open in 2014.^[15]

Notable alumni

• John Kitzhaber
• Lendon Smith
• D. George Wyse

References

External links

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Oregon Constitution/Article XI-L

Media related to Oregon Health & Science University at Wikimedia Commons

• OHSU home page
• OHSU Health System home page