Med School University Washington

The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences ( GW Med for short) was established in 1824 due to the need for doctors in the District of Columbia (DC) but formally opened its doors a year later in 1825. It is the eleventh oldest medical school in the country and the first medical school established in DC. The school has more than 700 medical school students currently enrolled in its Doctor of Medicine (MD) program. Over the past few years, GW has seen a dramatic rise in the number of applications it receives. For the past six years, it has been the most applied to medical school in the country, receiving almost 14,000 applications (13,856 applications; a 3.2 percent increase from the previous year), per admission cycle.

What was once a medical institution ravaged by various wars and battles gained prominence in 1981 when US President Ronald Reagan, shot at close range, was rushed to its ER and given the proper care and assistance. Politics aside, the George Washington University School of Medicine has always been at the forefront of technology for research and application. GW's innovations include the six-million volt linear accelerator, a radioisotope laboratory, and the first operating theaters with overheard observation decks, among others. Accepted students have the privilege of studying in one of the most historically significant schools, and have access to state-of-the-art facilities and equipment. Political figures, such as former Vice President Dick Cheney and former First Lady Laura Bush, also come to GW for routine and emergency procedures.

Four out of every ten students holds an undergraduate degrees in the arts, humanities, or social sciences. A unique aspect of the school is the Practice of Medicine (POM) course that spans the entire length of a medical student's education. GW was one of the first in the country to place students in clinical settings from the start of their medical school experience.

Admission & Ranking

Admission to the School of Medicine and Health Sciences is the most competitive of the George Washington University's graduate programs. It is home to the second most selective medical school student body in the United States (2.9% selectivity during 2008 admission cycle), after Mayo Medical School, according to US News and World Report. For the MD class entering in 2009, a little more than 1,000 applicants were interviewed out of a total number of 13,856 applicants. Approximately 300 individuals were accepted to fill 188 spots. Students had an average GPA of 3.6, and a mean MCAT score of 30.

Tuition is $45,000 for the first year class while the total cost of attendance is roughly $70,000 a year. Despite high costs, GW also provides the most financial aid and merit based scholarships in the country.

The residency placements of GW medical students are very competitive against national standards (94% of students get their first choice residency). The most represented residency placements consistently include Johns Hopkins, Yale, Stanford, and the University of California hospitals. Many students choose to continue at the George Washington Hospital or work with the GW Medical Faculty Associates, DC's largest not-for-profit ambulatory care practice.

International Medicine Program

GW is famous for providing leading US medical school education to international students. The International MD Program was developed by the Office of International Medicine Programs at GW in response to the great demand for US-educated physicians abroad. Differences in educational/teaching styles, language, and culture may present further obstacles to international students who apply to American programs. The International MD Program is designed to facilitate international students who wish to practice medicine, and to further GW's mission to improve the health and well-being of communities beyond its locale by promoting the exchange of knowledge across cultures.

Residency training for graduates of non-US medical schools and colleges is also provided by the GW Medical Center.

History

Establishment

The George Washington University opened in 1821 as the Columbian College, when Washington only had nine physicians and two apothecaries. The time was ripe for change. Four years after its founding, the college added a medical department to its curriculum. This, the eleventh medical department in the nation and the first in the capital, would evolve into the internationally recognized medical school, hospital, and ambulatory care facility - the George Washington University Medical Center.

The founding of a medical school inevitably comes with a hefty price tag, yet the GW medical department was initially funded entirely by its faculty. Six of these professionals financed the building of the first facility in downtown Washington, on 10th and E Streets near Ford's Theater.

The medical department opened with a first rate faculty, among them Thomas Sewall, professor of anatomy and a Harvard graduate; and James Staughton, professor of surgery and son of Columbia College president, William Staughton. Its faculty soon expanded to include Alexander P. McWilliams, Thomas Henderson, Nicholas Williams Worthington, and Frederick May. GW offered a full curriculum, which included anatomy, physiology, surgery, "theory and practice of physic," meteria medica, chemistry, and obstetrics.

Growth

Over the next fifteen years, the department continued to grow, and by the early 1840s it needed more space. In 1842 Congress appropriated money to improve a building at Judiciary Square for use as an insane asylum. But after the building was renovated with imminent occupancy, a great public outcry among local residents caused Congress to abandon the project. GW saw its opportunity and acted. The unused asylum was ideal for an infirmary and Congress granted GW use of the building. In 1844, the Washington Infirmary began operation as the first general hospital in the Nation's Capital and one of the earliest teaching hospitals.

Then as now, care of the indigent was an important service at GW. Supported in part by the federal government, which appropriated between two and six thousand dollars a year for the purpose, GW treated "transient sick paupers" besides paying customers.

In 1847 the medical department of Columbian College became the National Medical College. In the early 1850s, it was in the forefront of medical education in the nation. The Washington Infirmary was enlarged in 1853, in response to growing need. The improved facility allowed the faculty to include clinical studies formally in the curriculum. Since few schools taught clinical medicine before the early twentieth century, this addition was remarkable in its foresight.

Civil War

The following years were prosperous ones for the Washington Infirmary, but with the beginning of the American Civil War in 1861, the school entered a difficult era. Both medical students and faculty joined forces in the North and the South, though their numbers were significantly higher among the Confederate ranks. Beginning a long tradition of GW service to presidents, Dr. A.Y.P. Garnett left Washington to become Jefferson Davis's personal physician, while Dr. Robert King Stone remained to serve Abraham Lincoln.

After the war began, the government reclaimed the Infirmary for use as a military hospital, and less than seven months later the building was destroyed by fire. The Washington Star of November 4, 1861, headlined the disaster with "The Burning of the E Street Infirmary Terrible and Thrilling Incidents--Removal of More than One Hundred Patients." So ended GW's first established teaching hospital.

Despite the chaos of the war, the medical college regrouped and in 1863 reopened in the Constitution Office on E Street between 12th and 13th Streets, NW. From 1865 to 1867 it shared space in the Columbia College Law Building on 5th Street between D and E Streets, NW. The building also served as a church on Sundays.

Post-War Era

The GW hospital and medical school moved to 1335 H Street in 1868. The new building, which had previously housed the Army Medical Museum's specimens, was donated by W.W. Corcoran, philanthropist and president of GW's Board of Trustees from 1869 to 1888. The Evening Express of August 24, 1868, described Corcoran's gift as a place for students to "practice application of bandages and surgical appliances, to use the microscope, and to practice on the manikin." In March 1873, Columbian College became Columbia University and seven years later, GW's medical school instituted a three-year curriculum with two required sessions of dissecting and two of clinical instruction.

Acceptance of Women

In 1881 the Board of Trustees set a revolutionary policy by allowing women to be admitted on a trial basis, and the first woman students enrolled in 1884 - one in the School of Medicine and several in the newly established Corcoran Scientific School. For the next few decades, GW was one of the

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