Section I: Overview
Medical Center and the School of Nursing (SON)
The University of Rochester Medical Center Link to section
The University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) forms the centerpiece of the University of Rochester’s health research, teaching, and patient care missions. The medical center includes Strong Memorial Hospital and affiliates (see below), the Eastman Institute for Oral Health, the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, and the University of Rochester School of Nursing. Being a part of URMC — a leading academic medical center — gives School of Nursing students and faculty access to world-class clinical facilities and abundant exposure to research opportunities to explore the latest in evidence-based practice.
Founded in 1925, the SON became the sixth autonomous academic division of the University in 1972. A five-year grant from the Kellogg Foundation assisted in establishing the School as a unique center for excellence in nursing education, practice, and research. Faculty members of the School are clinicians in Strong Memorial Hospital or other agencies, educators in the academic programs, researchers in nursing and healthcare, and administrators or healthcare leaders in the Medical Center. The integration of these diverse professional activities strengthens each of them. These faculty members provide leadership roles in patient care and its administration and are role models for their students.
The University of Rochester’s clinical enterprise, UR Medicine, consists of six hospitals located throughout the Finger Lakes and Southern Tier, UR Medicine Home Care, the Highlands at Pittsford and Highlands at Brighton, Finger Lakes Health, nine urgent care centers, and an extensive primary care network.
Essential to the goals, philosophy, and programs of the SON is the excellent collaborative relationship among nursing, medicine, and multidisciplinary colleagues in education, practice, and research. This enriches the SON climate and encourages students and faculty to generate hypotheses for clinical research and identify evidence-based solutions to improve the practice of nursing and healthcare as well as foster academic innovation.
The university’s academic medical center’s flagship institution, Strong Memorial Hospital, is a major regional healthcare resource and is the University's primary teaching hospital for nursing students, medical students, residents, and fellows. An innovative and expansive approach to nursing utilizes the expertise of nurses in providing direct patient care, managing programs, serving on joint practice committees, and in leadership roles working collaboratively with multidisciplinary colleagues. All contribute to implementing high-quality nursing programs. The Edward G. Miner Library in the Medical Center provides a full range of services to the faculty, students, and staff of the Medical Center.