The current DGSOM strategic plan has its origins in an intensive school and health system-wide strategic planning process conducted in 2011 under the leadership of the former Dean, Dr. Eugene Washington. This year-long strategic planning process, which benefited from input from hundreds of DGSOM members, led to the development of the following, enduring mission statement for the DGSOM:
- To improve health and health care, the DGSOM will:
- Create world leaders in health and science
- Discover the basis for health and cures for disease
- Optimize health through community partnerships
- Heal humankind one patient at a time
In 2011, UCLA Health (DGSOM + UCLA health system) conducted a joint strategic planning process that crystalized our four mission pillars: clinical care, research, education and community engagement. The year-long data phase involved an environmental assessment, one-on-one interviews, a survey (n≈ 2,500), and an offsite leadership retreat. In 2017, UCLA Health leadership – Vice Chancellor John Mazziotta, Dean Kelsey Martin, and President/CEO Johnese Spisso – conducted a systemwide Strategic Plan Refresh to calibrate our strategic priorities in the face of a rapidly evolving health care and biomedical landscape. This led us to focus on several strategic opportunities, including the design of a more transparent funds flow and greater alignment across our clinical and academic enterprise and the University of California system.
Taken together, findings from the 2011 and 2017 strategic plans informed six overarching strategic priorities for DGSOM that underlie and inform the medical school’s mission-specific goals.
Elements of the overarching Strategic Plan Refresh that pertain to the DGSOM’s education, research and community service missions are highlighted below.