Establishment of the Medical School
From the very beginning, there was a desire at Western Reserve College to teach medical students. In 1822, an appeal for funds to start the college in Hudson was printed, which mentioned the intent to eventually teach students the professions of law, theology, and medicine. In 1834, when it was announced that a medical school was forming in nearby Willoughby, Ohio, the Western Reserve College trustees passed a resolution that they still intended to create a medical department of their own.
The chance came in 1843, when the majority of the faculty of Willoughby University of Lake Erie Medical College resigned. Several of them held medical practices in Cleveland and had the idea to start a new medical school there. In August of that year, the trustees of Western Reserve College were asked to support their plan by adopting the new medical school as part of the already established university.
It was initially unclear if Western Reserve College’s charter would allow for students to be instructed in Cleveland and awarded degrees by the school in Hudson. After deliberation, the solution was to form a committee to examine the degree candidates. This committee would then submit the names of those who passed examination to the board of trustees in Hudson for official approval. Other universities had made similar arrangements in the past, so the trustees believed this would allow them to have their medical department in Cleveland. Instruction began in November 1843 with the first class of 67 students. Nearly half of those had been students in Willoughby, which prompted attacks and questions of legality by the Willoughby administration.
Although the current students and legal experts who were consulted were satisfied with the arrangements, to prevent any future problems, the faculty requested that the charter be amended. This was conveyed by the trustees to Augustus E. Foot, the Summit County representative in the Ohio House, who was also a resident of Hudson. Foot introduced a bill in December 1843 to amend the charter. Usually such a request was a routine matter. However, the Willoughby trustees used their political connections to rally opposition to the bill among supporters of railroad subsidies. The Western Reserve College supporters, therefore, sought the help of legislators who favored canals, as they were inclined to disagree with the railroad supporters. Eventually, the bill passed the House and then the Senate, on February 23, 1844. This was three days after the first class graduated from the medical school. In March, the trustees officially established the Medical Department of Western Reserve College, finally putting any legal challenges to rest.
Aside from degrees being presented by Western Reserve College, the Medical Department remained largely independent from the Hudson campus. In addition to being financially separate, it was often referred to simply as “Cleveland Medical College” at the time.
The medical curriculum originally lasted 16 weeks (growing to 20 weeks by 1880). Approximately 30 lectures were given a week, with all students in the same amphitheater to hear the same lessons. The lectures tended to remain the same from year to year, unless a new professor was presenting the material. Students were expected to attend two years’ worth of lectures, in addition to a year of working with a preceptor. A preceptor was a working physician, usually with little prior teaching experience, who gave students hands-on training by bringing them along on their medical calls. The students’ experiences also included dissection of a cadaver as part of their required practical anatomy exam.
After the first two years were spent using rented space, the medical department began its third session on November 5, 1845, in the nearly completed building that was erected specifically for this purpose. The building would be used continuously until March 1884.
Sources
For more information about the School of Medicine’s history, see the list of published histories on our CWRU Archives Sources page. In addition to the published histories, information comes from records in the Case Western Reserve University Archives.
