EXPLORE BETHESDA

Bethesda is a census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, just northwest of the American capital of Washington, D.C. The National Institutes of Health main campus and the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center are in Bethesda, as are a number of corporate and government headquarters.

Bethesda is one of the most affluent and highly educated communities in the United States, placing first in Forbes list of America’s most educated small towns and first on CNNMoney.com’s list of top-earning American towns in 2012. In April 2009, Forbes ranked Bethesda second on its list of “America’s Most Livable Cities.” In October 2009, based on education, income, health, and fitness, Total Beauty ranked Bethesda first on its list of the U.S.’s “Top 10 Hottest-Guy Cities.”

Important institutions located in Bethesda include the National Institutes of Health campus, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and the Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division. Bethesda is the home of Congressional Country Club, which is recognized as one of the most prestigious country clubs in the world. Congressional has hosted four major golf championships, including the 2011 U.S. Open, won by Rory McIlroy. The AT&T National, hosted by Tiger Woods, has been played at Congressional four times.

Bethesda is also home to a federally funded and operated health science university, the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU). The primary mission of USU is to prepare graduates for service in the Medical Corps of the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Public Health Service. The university consists of the F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine, a medical school, and the Graduate School of Nursing, a nursing school.

source: wikipedia.org