Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine Clinical Affiliates

Research Growth on the Boston University Medical Campus

To promote research excellence, the BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine enhances new and existing research programs through faculty recruitment and modern research facilities. The BioSquare development project helps to meet future research needs of the Medical Campus with 314,000 square feet of research space and more than 30,000 square feet of clinical space. It provides space for advances in biotechnology and pharmacology with both basic and clinical investigations supporting the research needs of the three Medical Campus schools. The space facilitates the rapid transfer of laboratory discoveries to clinical applications at the bedside through new centers of excellence, and major programs in translational research.

Boston Medical Center

Boston Medical Center (BMC) is a private, not-for-profit, 523-licensed-bed, academic medical center located in Boston’s historic South End. The hospital is the primary teaching affiliate for the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. Boston Medical Center emphasizes community-based care, with its mission to provide consistently accessible health services to all.

As the largest safety-net hospital in New England, BMC provides a full spectrum of pediatric and adult care. BMC also is the largest and busiest provider of trauma and emergency services in New England. Its Emergency Department had 116,094 visits in fiscal year 2022.

But staying healthy involves a lot more than occasional trips to the hospital. That’s why BMC is committed to offering a wide range of programs that serve social needs, including the Preventive Food Pantry, the Violence Intervention Advocacy Program, and the Elders Living at Home program.

Focusing strongly on urban health, BMC is a cofounder of Boston HealthNet, a network affiliation of the medical center, the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, and 12 community health centers. Established in 1995, Boston HealthNet is an integrated healthcare delivery system whose partners provide outreach, prevention, primary and specialty care, and dental services at sites located throughout Boston and in nearby communities.

As the primary teaching affiliate of the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, BMC is devoted to training future generations of healthcare professionals. Every member of the hospital’s medical and dental staff holds an academic appointment at Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine or Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine. The hospital is approved for internship and residency training by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and currently operates 61 residency training programs with 729 resident and fellowship positions.

BMC employs a diverse workforce with 8,270 full-time equivalent employees, who work together to provide the highest quality patient-focused care.

VA Boston Healthcare System

The VA Boston Healthcare System (VABHS), located on three campuses in the Jamaica Plain and West Roxbury sections of Boston and in Brockton, is a major patient care, teaching, and research facility of the VA Healthcare System. Inpatient tertiary care services are located at the West Roxbury campus, while ambulatory care is provided at all three campuses and in five satellite clinics. A full spectrum of mental health services is offered at the three campuses, with large inpatient and residential facilities at Brockton. The healthcare system offers primary care and also serves as a referral center for specialized care from other VA facilities throughout New England. The VA is the nation’s largest integrated healthcare system and created the first, fully electronic medical record more than two decades ago.

BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School share responsibility for the academic programs at the hospital. The deans of the two medical schools cochair the Dean’s Committee, which oversees educational activities and academic appointments. Medical students and residents from both schools and their other affiliated hospitals rotate to the VA Boston Healthcare System for clinical instruction, including clerkships and electives in internal medicine, surgery, neurology, psychiatry, and the various medical and surgical subspecialties. VABHS houses one of the largest training programs in the country for medical students, residents, fellows, and allied health professionals.

The VA Boston Healthcare System hosts the largest research program in the VA and focuses on disorders that occur commonly in veterans. Among its unique resources are the Million Veteran Program, the world’s largest genomic biorepository, two divisions of the National Center for PTSD, including the world’s only research center on PTSD in women veterans, brain banks for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, Alzheimer’s disease, ALS, and PTSD, and a host of programs in epidemiology, health services research, neuroscience, addiction, and a broad spectrum of basic laboratory research.

Kaiser Foundation Hospitals

Kaiser Permanente is one of the largest (nonfederal) not-for-profit integrated health plans in the United States, providing healthcare to 12.6 million people in eight US regions. BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine has partnered with Kaiser Foundation Hospitals to establish a branch campus in Northern California for required clinical clerkship rotations.

The Permanente Medical Group of Northern California has more than 9,500 physicians and more than 42,000 nurses and staff. They serve more than 4.6 million patients in Northern California.