Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine: An Overview

The Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine, located in Dayton, Ohio, serves the Miami Valley region of Southwest Ohio. It offers medical education leading to the M.D., M.D./Ph.D., M.D./M.B.A., or M.D./M.P.H. degrees.

A Community-Based Approach to Medical Education

Instead of operating a university-based hospital for clinical training, Wright State is affiliated with eight major teaching hospitals in the region and has formal affiliation agreements with more than 25 other health care institutions in the Miami Valley. This model exposes medical students and resident physicians to a diverse range of patients and health care facilities. As a community-based medical school, the Boonshoft School of Medicine is affiliated with six major teaching hospitals, two federal institutions and more than 25 other health care institutions. Rather than receiving clinical training in a single location, you will encounter a diverse range of patients, practices and facilities, giving you invaluable "real world" experience to prepare you for a successful career in the dynamic health care system.

Affiliated Institutions

Wright State's clinical training network includes:

Children's Hospital
Dayton VA Medical Center
Kettering Medical Center
Miami Valley Hospital
Wright-Patterson Medical Center

The school's academic departments include basic science departments located on the Wright State University campus and clinical departments based throughout the community. Wright State's clinical faculty teach and provide medical care for almost half a million patient visits annually. In addition to almost 485 full-time faculty, Wright State's voluntary faculty include more than 1,280 physicians in private practice and other health care professionals in the community.

Curriculum and Dual Degree Programs

As a student at the Boonshoft School of Medicine, you will be engaged with our carefully designed WrightCurriculum. With the meaning of education at its core, our curriculum supports your development as a curious, self-directed learner by teaching skills and habits for lifelong learning. Medical schools in the United States all cover the same content. The differences lie in how the content is presented, sequenced and integrated. The WrightCurriculum starts with the Foundations of Clinical Practice, integrating biomedical, clinical and health care sciences step by step. This is followed by the Doctoring phase that provides a rich set of clinical experiences in hospitals, clinics and practices. Throughout all four years, you will have opportunities for community health advocacy, research and global health experiences. The WrightCurriculum will provide you ample opportunities to acquire and apply the fundamental knowledge and skills to be successful on the national licensing exams. Your time in class will be devoted to solving authentic problems with your peers. All students complete a scholarly project before graduation, which teaches the process of hypothesis generation, data collection, literature review and publication.

Read also: Wright State University Textbooks

Dual Degree Programs

Unique, integrated dual-degree programs-The Physician Leadership Development Program (PLDP) allows medical students to obtain a master’s degree (M.B.A. or M.P.H.) while pursuing their medical degree over five years.

Research and Innovation

The Boonshoft School of Medicine is home to outstanding research facilities, leading faculty and ample funding to support groundbreaking investigations in basic and clinical science. The medical school is affiliated with a wide range of university, government and industry partners who vastly expand the scope and nature of our research. Our efforts include multi-state clinical trials, NIH-funded Program Project Grants and translational research with enormous potential to impact patient's lives. From day one, you will enjoy what our major research university offers, including support from organizations such as the Medical Student Research Club and the school’s Office of Research Affairs. Get involved in the Research Learning Community (RLC), a collaboration among medical students, faculty and the Office of Research Affairs. Combined M.D./Ph.D.

National Recognition for Research

The school houses National Centers of Research Excellence including the National Center for Medical Readiness, the Lifespan Health Research Center, which houses the nation’s largest and oldest study of human growth and development, the Wright State University and Premier Health Partners Neuroscience Institute at Miami Valley Hospital, and the Center for Interventions, Treatment, and Addictions Research.

In fall 2007, five researchers associated with the Neuroscience Institute won a prestigious Program Project Grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. The $4.8 million grant is the first Program Project Grant Wright State University has received.

Neuroscience Institute

Neuroscience Institute named Ohio Center of Excellence-Designated as a University System of Ohio Center of Excellence, the Wright State University & Premier Health Neuroscience Institute unites the Dayton region’s most advanced biomedical research institution with the clinical resources of its leading hospital system. The beautiful Gandhi Medical Education Center in White Hall has everything you will need during the first two years of medical school. You'll also have access to the Neuroscience Engineering Collaboration Building, which opened in the spring of 2015. This new facility brings together scientists and physicians affiliated with the Wright State University and Premier Health Neuroscience Institute, creating a unique bridge between our biomedical research and engineering capabilities.

Read also: The Legacy of Frank Lloyd Wright

National Center for Medical Readiness

The National Center for Medical Readiness (NCMR), housed at the Boonshoft School of Medicine, is a response organization for large scale emergencies, such as a weather disaster, terrorist attack or hazmat situation.

Social Mission and Service

We embrace a profound dedication to service and strive to graduate physicians who aspire to make a real difference in the world. The Boonshoft School of Medicine was recognized for the strength of its social mission in a 2010 national study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, ranking us fourth in the nation. Choose among a wide variety of service learning opportunities, including volunteering at a free clinic for the uninsured and underserved, providing free school physicals or classroom presentations for local students. Not only can you complete a medical mission abroad as a student at the Boonshoft School of Medicine, you can also get class credit for your travel experience.

Recognition for Social Mission

A 2010 study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine ranks the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine fourth in the nation for its social mission. The study, entitled “The Social Mission of Medical Education: Ranking the Schools,” measured the percentage of graduates who practice primary care, work in health professional shortage areas, and are underrepresented minorities, and combined the data into a composite social mission score. To determine the true outcomes of medical education rather than the intermediate preferences of medical students and residents, the study tracked physicians in practice after the completion of all training and national service obligations. The researchers examined data from medical school graduates from 1999 to 2001.

Accolades and Recognition

Among the Best Doctors®-Thirty-eight Wright State physicians and faculty of the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine and Wright State Physicians were named to the 2017-2018 Best Doctors in America® List. They represented 88 percent of the 43 Dayton-area doctors named.

AAMC honors Boonshoft School of Medicine professor-Dean X. Parmelee, M.D., professor of psychiatry and pediatrics and associate dean for medical education, was recognized with the Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) at an awards presentation on Nov. 13, 2016, during Learn Serve Lead 2016: The AAMC Annual Meeting in Seattle, WA. Dr. Parmelee has been an early pioneer of team-based learning (TBL) and medical education innovation for more than three decades.

A Brief History

The vision for a medical school at Wright State University originated with Dayton area physicians and community leaders who recognized that using existing hospitals and other clinical resources would be a cost-effective model for medical education. The school's charter class began studies in 1976 and graduated in 1980. The Boonshoft School of Medicine is accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME). In 2021, Wright State University's Boonshoft School of Medicine implemented a curriculum consisting of 19.5 months of basic science training followed by 45 months of clinical training.

The VA awarded the school a $19.5 million, seven-year grant for faculty support and facilities. Other major founding donors included Mrs. Siva S. Kenneth N. Jerrold S. Charles H. Mark E.

Life in Dayton, Ohio

Dayton is a growing, vibrant Midwestern city midway between Columbus and Cincinnati. With a diverse metropolitan area of almost a million residents, the Dayton area combines an excellent quality of life and low cost of living while bringing together a variety of unique urban, suburban and rural communities. It features the amenities of a much larger city while avoiding drawbacks like traffic and high costs.

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