Seattle is the founding campus for MEDEX Northwest. As part of the University of Washington School of Medicine, we share classroom facilities with other teaching schools within UW Medicine. Seattle is a city of water and hills, which accounts for the panoramic views of freshwater lakes, the saltwater Puget Sound and two neighboring mountain ranges. Seattle has a reputation for rainfall, but actually receives less annual rain than New York or Boston. At the core, it is an active and artistic town with residents having easy access to running trails, bicycle paths and verdant city parks in addition to great food, live music, museums, and events celebrating the arts. Seattle is a great place to balance your studies with recreation and social activities.
Seattle Is
- Metropolitan
- the greater Seattle area is the 15th largest metropolis in the nation
- Diverse
- sizable communities of people from all over the world live, work and play side by side
- A cultural hub for art, music, theater and food
- award-winning fine dining to food trucks
- performing acts and concerts from around the world
- the largest theater-going population in the nation supports a lively regional theater community
- Active
- close to skiing, hiking, biking, sailing, boating
- A technology hub for the nation
- home of Microsoft and Amazon
- Highly-educated
- more than half of Seattleites over the age of 25 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher
- ranks high among the most well-read cities in the US
- Made up of distinct small neighborhoods that contribute to a small town feel
- Pedestrian and bicycle friendly
- Seattle has miles of walking trails and a 450-mile bikeway network
Seattle Is Not
Seattle Has
- Mild climate: rarely below freezing in the winter or humid in the summer (four full seasons stay within a comfortable range)
- Water everywhere: Puget Sound, Lake Washington, Lake Union and waterways border and cut through and across the city
- Mountains everywhere: Mt. Rainier graces the horizon, Cascades to the east, Olympics to the west
- Vibrant downtown waterfront offering recreation, restaurants, an aquarium and the historic Pike Place Market
- Outstanding parks and green spaces
- Public celebrations such as Fremont Solstice Parade (June), 4th of July fireworks (July), SeaFair (August) and Bumbershoot Arts Festival (September)
- Lots of public art
- Outstanding public transportation services: bus, light rail, train, the country’s largest ferry system
- Coffee shops on nearly every corner
- Several professional sports teams including baseball, football, soccer, women’s basketball
- Wide variety of live music, arts shows, theatre, literary events
Seattle Is Close To
- Tacoma (34 miles)
- Snoqualmie Pass Ski area (52 miles)
- Bellingham, WA, and Western Washington University (90 miles)
- Ellensburg (107 miles)
- Mount Rainier (116 miles)
- Yakima (142 miles)
- Olympic National Park (83 miles)
- Vancouver, BC, Canada (141 miles)
- Mount Baker National Forest (105 miles)
- Portland, OR (174 miles)
- Mount St. Helens (185 miles)
About Seattle
- Seattle is the founding site of MEDEX and the home of MEDEX operations.
- Seattle hosts the largest MEDEX class with 40 to 50 seats accepted annually.
- UW Medicine ranks as the #1 Public Academic Medical Center in the US.
- UW Medicine is rated as #1 in family medicine specifically and #2 in primary care in general.
- MEDEX students share the same classroom building with other UW health professions and research.
- Seattle hosts a sizable network of neighborhood health clinics.
- Opportunities exist for working with an underserved urban population.