History of Stanford Medicine facts for kids
Stanford Medicine has a long history, starting way back in 1858. That's when Elias Samuel Cooper, a doctor in San Francisco, California, opened the very first medical school in the Western United States. This school changed a lot over the years. It became known as Cooper Medical College. Later, Stanford University took it over in 1908. In 1959, the school moved from San Francisco to the main Stanford campus near Palo Alto, California.
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Early Years Before Stanford
In 1858, Dr. Elias Samuel Cooper worked with the University of the Pacific. This was a college in Santa Clara at the time. Together, they started a Medical Department for the university in San Francisco. The school opened in 1859. It was the first medical school in the western United States.
The next year, Dr. Cooper started a medical newspaper called the San Francisco Medical Press. This helped doctors share ideas. In 1861, Levi Cooper Lane, who was Dr. Cooper's nephew, joined the teaching staff.
Sadly, Dr. Cooper passed away in 1862. Without his strong leadership, the Medical Department struggled. In 1864, another doctor named Hugh H. Toland opened his own school, the Toland Medical College. Many teachers from Dr. Cooper's old school moved to Toland Medical College. In 1873, Toland Medical College became part of the University of California, San Francisco.
Then, in 1870, Levi Cooper Lane came back. He took charge of the Medical Department of the University of the Pacific. He made it strong again and opened a new building. In 1872, the medical school changed its connection to University College. Its name also changed to the Medical College of the Pacific. In 1877, the school welcomed its first female student.
Lane had big plans for the school. In 1882, he renamed it Cooper Medical College. He named it after his uncle, Elias Samuel Cooper, who started it all. Lane paid for a new brick building for the school. The new college had teachers from the Medical College of the Pacific. In 1890, Lane added more to the building. This included a large meeting hall, labs, and a surgery room. These modern facilities made the school very well-known. In 1892, Cooper Medical College was one of only seven U.S. medical schools recognized by the English Royal College of Surgeons.
In 1895, the school grew even more. Lane Hospital opened with 100 beds. This hospital was built with help from Claus Spreckels and James McDonald. Also in 1895, the Lane Hospital Training School for Nurses began. This was the start of the Stanford School of Nursing.
Stanford Takes Over Cooper Medical College
In 1906, David Starr Jordan, who was the president of Stanford University, suggested something big. He wanted Stanford to take over Cooper Medical College. He hoped the medical school would focus more on medical research. In 1908, Cooper Medical College was officially given to Stanford University. It was then renamed the Stanford University Department of Medicine. In 1912, Lane Hospital and the nursing school also became part of Stanford.
Levi Cooper Lane had also planned for a medical library in his will. The Levi C. Lane Medical Library Trust had many books and money for a new building. Stanford University also helped with funds. The Lane Medical Library opened in 1912. It was the largest medical library west of Chicago at that time. The building is still there today.
In 1914, the Department of Medicine changed its name again to the Stanford School of Medicine. It was organized into 10 different areas of study. These included things like anatomy, surgery, and public health. In 1917, Stanford University Hospital opened next to Lane Hospital. In 1919, the Stanford Home for Convalescent Children opened in Palo Alto. This home helped children get better after being sick.
In 1939, the Ruth Lucy Stern Research Laboratory opened. This helped the medical school focus even more on research, just as President Jordan had wanted.
Moving to the Main Stanford Campus
In the 1950s, Stanford decided to move the School of Medicine. The plan was to bring it to the main Stanford campus. This big move was finished in 1959. The old medical school buildings in San Francisco were given to a church group. They became the California Pacific Medical Center. The original Cooper Medical College and Lane Hospital buildings were taken down in 1974.
The new Stanford campus for the School of Medicine was designed by Edward Durell Stone. It included the Palo Alto-Stanford Hospital Center. This was a hospital shared by two different groups of doctors. Many teachers moved from San Francisco to the new campus. New teachers also joined the school.
In 1974, the Stanford School of Nursing closed.
In 1980, Stanford University and the University of California, San Francisco received a special patent. This patent was for gene splicing and cloning. These technologies helped start the new biotechnology industry. In 1981, a report praised Stanford University School of Medicine. It said the school was good at bringing in students from different backgrounds.
The Stanford University Medical School was mostly safe during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.
How the School Taught Medicine
In 1912, the medical school changed how students earned their M.D. (Doctor of Medicine) degree. Students first spent two years studying basic science at Stanford's main campus. Then, they spent two years working with patients in hospitals in San Francisco. Students also had to write a research paper. This new plan followed ideas from the 1910 Flexner Report, which suggested ways to improve medical education.
In 1923, the school changed the curriculum again. It reduced the number of required class hours. This allowed students to choose more classes they were interested in. This helped them specialize in certain areas of medicine. During World War II, in 1941, the school created a faster M.D. program. This was to help meet the demand for doctors in the military. This faster program ended in 1945.
In 1959, the Stanford University School of Medicine started a five-year M.D. program. In 1968, the curriculum changed once more. It removed all required pre-clinical training. Students could choose all their classes. However, this changed back in 1984. Core science courses became required again. In 1993, Stanford tried a new way of teaching called "Preparation for Clinical Medicine." This course used problem-solving to help students learn. But the school still kept the traditional model of two years of science followed by two years of clinical studies.
Images for kids
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Cooper Medical College, a predecessor institution to Stanford Medicine. San Francisco, 1882. Photo from Lane Medical Archives Photo File, Box 9, folder 6. Reproduced with permission by the Stanford Medical History Center
