Dr. Leila Harrison is the Senior Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs at the Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine with a faculty appointment in the Department of Medical and Clinical Sciences. She oversees efforts in these areas as well as pathways related to admissions into the College. She has held leadership roles at the regional and national levels for the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) in both the Southern and Western regions through the Committee on Admissions and Enrollment Management Workgroup within the Group on Student Affairs. She also served as an AAMC Holistic Review facilitator training other medical schools’ admissions committee on how to include holistic review in their admissions process for four years as well as a new workshop for Graduate Medical Education (GME; residency) selection. She assisted the College’s newly established Internal Medicine residency in developing a holistic selection process. She leads the participation for the WSU College of Medicine within the national AAMC Situational Judgement Test (SJT) study. Overall, Dr. Harrison has been involved in medical education since 2002, mostly within admissions across three public medical schools (WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, Texas A&M College of Medicine, and University of North Texas Health Science Center Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine), two of which are land-grant institutions, with experiences in diversity, inclusion, and student affairs.

Dr. Harrison is a solid advocate for holistic review in admissions as well as helping any aspiring doctor along their journey. She is a originally from Las Cruces, New Mexico with family roots in the state going back four generations. She is Latina and a first-generation college graduate and the first in her extended family to earn a PhD. Her own background makes her passionate about encouraging any aspiring doctor to believe that future is possible. She has completed the AAMC LEAD Fellowship and feels strongly about continuing to grow as a leader as well as helping others explore their own leadership growth. Courage through vulnerability, transparency, and creating a culture of inclusion among her team through trust building, conflict resolution, and collaboration are key aspects of her leadership style.