Table of Contents
- Overview
- Prevention
- Images
On May 5, 1847, nearly 200 delegates representing 40 medical societies and 28 colleges from 22 states and the District of Columbia met. They resolved themselves into the first session of the American Medical Association (AMA). Nathaniel Chapman (1780-1853) was elected as the first president of the association. The AMA has grown to become an organization that has a great deal of influence over issues related to health care in the United States.
The AMA set educational standards for MDs, including the following:
- A liberal education in the arts and sciences
- A certificate of completion in an apprenticeship before entering the medical college
- An MD degree that covered 3 years of study, including two 6-month lecture sessions, 3 months devoted to dissection, and a minimum of one 6-month session of hospital attendance
In 1852, the standards were revised to add more requirements:
- Medical schools had to provide a 16-week course of instruction that included anatomy, medicine, surgery, midwifery, and chemistry
- Graduates had to be at least 21 years of age
- Students had to complete a minimum of 3 years of study, 2 years of which were under an acceptable practitioner
Between 1802 and 1876, 62 fairly stable medical schools were established. In 1810, there were 650 students enrolled and 100 graduates from medical schools in the United States. By 1900, these numbers had risen to 25,000 students and 5,200 graduates. Nearly all of these graduates were white males.
Daniel Hale Williams (1856-1931) was one of the first black MDs. After graduating from Northwestern University in 1883, Dr. Williams practiced in Chicago and was later a main force in establishing Provident Hospital, which still serves Chicago's South Side.
Elizabeth Blackwell (1821-1920), after graduating from Geneva College of Medicine in upstate New York, became the first woman granted an MD degree in the United States.
The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine opened in 1893. It is cited as being the first medical school in America of "genuine university-type, with adequate endowment, well-equipped laboratories, modern teachers devoted to medical investigation and instruction, and its own hospital in which the training of physicians and healing of sick persons combined to the optimal advantage of both." It is considered the first, and the model for all later research universities. Johns Hopkins Medical School served as a model for the reorganization of medical education. After this, many sub-standard medical schools closed.
Medical schools had become mostly diploma mills, with the exception of a few schools in large cities. Two developments changed that. The first was the "Flexner Report," published in 1910. Abraham Flexner was a leading educator who was asked to study American medical schools. His highly negative report and recommendations for improvement led to the closing of bad schools and the creation of standards of excellence for a real medical education.
Review Date: 02/03/2011
Reviewed By: Michael E. Makover, MD, professor and attending in Rheumatology at
the New York University Medical Center, New York, NY. Review
provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David
Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)
