The Department of Medicine is the largest department at Oregon Health & Science University with 260 faculty roughly divided equally between the OHSU Hospital and Clinics and the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center Hospital and Clinics. We also have over 300 volunteer faculty at various institutions throughout Portland.  The Department of Medicine has three major mandates: education, research and patient care.

The educational activities of the department account for a significant portion of all medical student teaching in the four-year curriculum. This number excludes untold hours of work with students at the bedside and with the research staff.
A measure of our success is the recognition of educational excellence by students and faculty. In past years this departments faculty have won numerous educational excellence awards that exist at OHSU.

Research volume, as measured by direct research awards, was approximately $35 million in the past year between OHSU and the Portland VA, accounting for a large portion of the School of Medicine's research budget. Benefits of these research grants can be seen in numerous press releases covering research activity at OHSU.

A high level of patient care continues to be a major focus at OHSU. As a teaching institution we strive for excellence in patient care while maintaining excellent educational and research programs. Our department goal is to achieve the highest standards in each of these activities while maintaining a cohesive and collegial department in which all individuals are fully supported in their efforts to achieve their academic potential.

Our goal is to become a national magnet for learners and patients. The extent to which we achieve this goal is the measure of our success as a department.