From: Mary Tucker mtucker@gwu.

edu
Subject: Letter from Dean Barbara Bass - Update on Residents and Fellows Unionization
Date: April 3, 2023 at 11:51 AM
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Bcc: maryssamiller@gwu.edu

TO: Residents and Fellows  

FROM: Dr. Barbara L. Bass, Dean and CEO <smhsdean@gwu.edu> 
 
SUBJECT: Update on Residents and Fellows Unionization 
 
Dear GW Residents and Fellows,                             
 
As I shared with you earlier this month, the university is deeply committed to supporting
you, our residents and fellows, during the years you spend with us as members of our
healthcare teams – as physicians and trainees who are acquiring new skills and knowledge
each day working with our patients and faculty, and indeed as teachers who serve as
educators and role models for our medical students. We know many of you have sacrificed
much, both financially and personally, to become physicians. We want to continue to work
together to ensure you have a meaningful, successful, and fulfilling training experience at
GW as you prepare for the independent practice of medicine. 
 
I have been asked several times over the last few weeks about my position on residents and
fellows unionization. I now want to directly share my perspective with you, a perspective I
have thought carefully about and with full understanding that reasonable minds may
disagree: I do not think a union is necessary for residents and fellows to effectively advocate
for yourselves, individually or collectively with GW. I come to that conclusion based on
your status as medical professionals, your previously established relationships in our
community, and your ability to effectuate change already, on your own, impressively. Let
me explain my perspective in more detail. 
 
First and foremost, I consider each of you as a colleague in the medical profession – yes, at
an earlier stage than myself or your faculty, but as a professional colleague, so I will address
you as a colleague. Throughout my career, I have been gratified by how we, as physicians,
collaborate to care for and to advocate for our patients. This advocacy is focused on patient
outcomes through effective integrated care and by requests to those in leadership to provide
us with the resources needed to effectively deliver the best patient care. At day’s end, there
will never be a better advocate for your patients or yourselves than you, and as you train at
GW, we hope to equip you with the skills and judgment necessary to do that once you leave
to practice as an independent physician. You are the professional and you have earned the
professional right to advocate on your own principled convictions without limitation from
any outside voice. 
 
Second, the university genuinely values the direct and individualized relationship that we
have established with you to ensure your success as physicians.  Working together, including
through the Housestaff Council, the university has supported you not only in your role on
our care teams but also in your broader professional growth and academic experience to
prepare you for your future careers. That support includes the committed efforts of your
faculty who share their practices, their wisdom, and their experiences with you to ensure
your professional development and training on a daily basis.  The introduction of a union, or
your professional development and training on a daily basis.  The introduction of a union, or
any third party, may impact the direct relationship that we have successfully sustained for
years, including your ability to work directly and independently with your program director
and the Graduate Medical Education office to resolve individual questions, needs, or issues
as they arise.  
 
Third, I have been impressed with the passion and dedication that each of you have already
shown toward advocating for yourselves, especially in recent years as the COVID-19 global
pandemic took an unprecedented toll on the country’s healthcare system. Over the past five
years, your collective and individual advocacy efforts have led to positive changes in many
areas. For example:

the creation of the GW Resiliency & Well-being Center to provide free counseling
and online content focused on the health and well-being of our residents and
fellows and managing the high levels of stress that often accompany practicing
medicine, especially in the current environment of pandemic-related clinical and
financial pressures; 
establishment of a residents- and fellows-only lounge at GW Hospital; 
a meal stipend; and 
gym membership discounts.

We have collaborated on these achievements while also providing a salary structure that is
in the 75th percentile nationally for residents and fellows (based on 2022-23 AAMC Data),
and a benefits program that exceeds requirements established by the Accreditation Council
for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). I am confident that our prior record has shown
that we can continue to effectively work together—as professionals and colleagues—to
make change. 
 
As you consider your own personal choice about your representation by a union, it is
important that you be informed of the possible advantages or disadvantages of unionization.
The university is not anti-union.  We have good working relationships with a number of
unions on campus.  But, I have significant concerns about the impact unionization might
have on the professional and mentoring relationships our faculty develop with residents and
fellows that are such a critical element of the residency experience. And, as I have shared
above, I do not think that a union is needed for you to continue to effectively advocate for
yourselves as professionals. 
 
Whatever your view on unionization, the result of the union election binds all of you,
regardless of whether you vote or how you vote. We encourage open discussions on
complex issues such as this one, and I appreciate this opportunity to share my perspectives.
While the formation of a union will not change our shared values or our commitment to
your training, we do urge you to be fully informed of how a union may affect our working
environment. Forming a union is a consequential decision, and I encourage all those eligible
to vote to do so when the union election occurs. Consequently, we remain committed to
providing you up-to-date information as this process continues. A resource page, which
includes our FAQs, has been created on MedHub. Once you login, click on the “Union
Election” button.    
Election” button.    
 
I hope these materials will be helpful and informative to you as you determine your
perspective on union representation.  We, your faculty and staff, continue to value your daily
contributions to our academic medical enterprise.   I am confident that you will engage in
thoughtful appraisal of the question at hand as developing young professionals in our GW
academic medical community, a community that is purpose built for your present and future
success as physicians.  
 
Sincerely,  
 
 
Barbara Lee Bass, MD, FACS 
Professor of Surgery 
Walter A. Bloedorn Chair of Administrative Medicine 
Vice President for Health Affairs 
Dean, GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences 
CEO, The GW Medical Faculty Associates 

--
Mary Y. Tucker
Director, Graduate Medical Education
The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences
2300 Eye Street, NW, Suite 718
Washington, DC 20037
202-994-3285 (phone)
202-994-1604 (fax)