UW Medical School Tabs Ramsey

Dr. Paul G. Ramsey, chairman of the University of Washington’s department of medicine, has been named vice president for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine, the university said Thursday.

As vice president of medical affairs, Ramsey will oversee not only the medical school and its associated activities, but also the UW Medical Center and Harborview Medical Center, which the university has operated for King County since 1967.

Ramsey, 46, is an expert in methods used to assess physicians’ clinical competence. He has been on the medical school faculty for 17 years, the last seven as head of the Department of Medicine, the medical school’s largest department.

Ramsey succeeds Dr. Philip J. Fialkow. Fialkow and his wife were killed by an avalanche last fall while trekking in Nepal.

Ramsey was selected after a five-month national search. His appointment is subject to confirmation by UW regents at their June 13 meeting.

Ramsey’s salary will be $200,000.

He graduated from Harvard College in 1971 with honors in biochemistry and received his M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1975.

The UW medical school has 1,336 full-time faculty, 698 medical students, more than 650 residents and nearly 400 graduate students.