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Improving Health

Paul G. Ramsey, MD; Edward D. Miller, MD

JAMA. 2009;301(14):1475-1476.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Mission statements capture and express the heart and soul of an organization. Mission may be defined around function—a statement or declaration of fundamental purpose or strategic direction. A mission statement may offer the organization's definition of vision and values, or it may articulate an inner calling or vocation to pursue an activity or perform a service. In all cases, mission statements ultimately attempt to answer one question: What does an institution or organization seek to achieve?

In 1497, the first known academic chair of medicine in the English-speaking world was established at King's College in Aberdeen, Scotland. Its mission was the "pursuit of health in the service of society."¹ Five centuries later, academic medicine has lost sight of this mission. It is critical that academic medicine now return to the original meaning and mission.

Some argue that the mission of academic medicine . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Author Affiliations: UW Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle (Dr Ramsey); and The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland (Dr Miller).

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