Academic Relations

Learning Opportunities at Wisconsin's Most Comprehensive Health Care Provider, Serving More than 1.2 Million Patients Every Year.

Academic ResearchAurora Health Care recognizes the importance of educating and training the next generation of health care workers. With over 60 academic affiliations, Aurora's Academic Relations offers students the opportunity to learn from the leading physicians and scientists in their field. Over 2,000 students receive education and training in Aurora facilities each year, including students in nursing, pharmacy, allied health, informatics, biomedicine, and more than 400 medical students. Academic medicine and research at Aurora include observational surveys, comparative effectiveness, educational methods research, quality improvement, as well as residency and fellowship research.

Academic Medicine at Aurora

Academic medicine has touched on a vast number of fields at Aurora, including urban health issues, cardiac and pulmonary research, oncology research, obstetrical and neonatal outcomes, primary care, nutrition and wellness, chronic disease and geriatric care. Academic medicine in these fields result in patient-centered outcomes in patient care, community services, improved institutional efficiencies, technology, publications and presentations.

The year 2011 was filled with activity for the Aurora UW Medical Group. Throughout the year, Aurora physicians, researchers, staff, residents and medical students produced materials that have contributed to Aurora's continuing mission to deliver better patient outcomes and help people live well.

Academic medical research at Aurora resulted in new information on nearly every contemporary medical issue, grants were awarded, and honors were given to physicians and medical researchers. As a result of Aurora's innovative research, the Aurora UW Medical Group received 10 honors and awards, one grant, made over 80 presentations and posters, and issued over 30 publications, including 4 published abstracts.

Benefits of Academic Medical Research

Over the year, Aurora caregivers have presented on academic research studies at medical conferences throughout North America, including:

  • American Geriatrics Society
  • STMF Conference on Medical Student Education in Houston, TX
  • Annual Clinical Meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in Washington, DC
  • International Society of Hypertension In Boston, MA
  • American Public Health Association's Annual Meeting in Washington, DC
  • North American Primary Care Research Group Annual Meeting in Banff, Alberta, Canada
  • A significant number of medical and academic conferences statewide in Wisconsin

"This effort brought new insights and ideas into our medical community this past year," said Dennis Baumgardner, MD, director of research for Aurora UW Medical Group and associate director for the Center for Urban Population Health. "Many of our faculty and staff were honored by major medical organizations for their outstanding efforts in advancing specific areas of research, focusing on new issues, and presenting forceful, empirically generated ideas and solutions to problems."

The collaborative nature of academic medical research may well result in new connections, which Dr. Baumgardner encourages. "Aurora UW Medical Group faculty are open to collaboration with others on research and scholarly activities, and are eligible to participate in projects developed by the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health's Institute for Clinical Translational Research, the Wisconsin Network for Health Research, Wisconsin Research and Education Network, and other research networks," said Dr. Baumgardner. "Our focus on continuing improvement and quality health care is initiated through research, so we are always interested in developing successful research efforts."