OHSU educates health and high-technology professionals, scientists and environmental engineers, and it undertakes the indispensable functions of patient care, community service and biomedical research.

Although the institution benefits Oregonians in many ways, OHSU's principal mission is education. It is dedicated to educating the next generation of health and high-technology professionals, scientists and environmental engineers for leadership in their fields. OHSU's primary education units are the Schools of Dentistry, Medicine and Nursing, and OGI School of Science & Engineering. Classrooms take many forms - the traditional school room, a patient's bedside, an inner city or rural clinic, an Oregon beach, a biomedical research laboratory, a shelter for the poor or a home for the elderly.