Research

Midwestern University (MWU) is proud of first and foremost being a teaching institution to educate the next generation of healthcare professionals, and we firmly believe that research is a vital ingredient for excellent teaching.  We understand that support for research is critical, not only because of the innovative discoveries, potential increased extramural funding, and productive multi-institutional collaborations that can result, but also because a great researcher in the laboratory is often a highly effective teacher in the auditorium.  MWU believes that continuous academic excellence is sustained by the research-teaching nexus, where research supports teaching and teaching supports research.

It is our goal, as a healthcare university, to not only disseminate knowledge, but to create new knowledge and to foster a passion for life-long learning in our students. When students enter the laboratory or engage in a clinical research project their education is enriched in numerous ways. We realize that students with research experience and a full appreciation of scientific methodology are more likely to be well-rounded healthcare professionals who are prepared to face a variety of future challenges. Similarly, faculty members who are focused on unraveling cutting-edge questions through their research are up-to-date in their area of expertise and can incorporate that knowledge into the classroom. The University's commitment to research is evidenced by the full salary support of our tenure track faculty and the vast majority of our research associates. Finally, as an institution of higher education, MWU recognizes our social responsibility to support research as a means to benefit society through innovative discoveries.

Midwestern University's Strategic Plan for Research

Consistent with the importance that we place on research, we strive to increase our extramural support, number and quality of our publications, and number of licensable patents annually. Almost all universities engaged in the research enterprise measure their research success by tabulating research expenditures, number of publications, and number of patents. While MWU recognizes the importance of these three indicators of research success, increasing these numbers to achieve the status of a research-intensive institution is not the reason that we support our research faculty. Rather, MWU recognizes that excellence in research, be it basic science or clinical, and excellence in teaching cannot be arbitrarily separated. It is our goal, as a healthcare university, to not only disseminate knowledge, but to create new knowledge and to foster life-long learning in our students. We seek to develop students who are motivated and have the necessary intellectual tools to continuously strive to improve their ability to deliver excellent healthcare to their patients. 

When students enter the research laboratory or engage in a clinical research project and learn to solve complex problems working side-by-side with faculty members, both the faculty member and the student benefit in a synergistic manner. The student can bring a refreshing enthusiasm and a healthy inquisitive perspective to the research problem, which can energize the faculty member and encourage them to view the problem in a new light. In turn, the faculty member can teach the student how to scientifically approach a complex problem, enabling them to deal with similar complex problems that they will, most certainly, encounter during their professional careers. MWU recognizes that research is a form of experiential education.