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History of the Medical College of Virginia

Resources related to the history of the Medical College of Virginia (MCV)

Illustrated Timeline

Medical College of Virginia Timeline

 

1838 The Medical Department of Hampden-Sydney College opens
1844 The Medical Department moves into its first permanent home, the Egyptian Building 
1854 The Medical Department of Hampden-Sydney College receives an independent charter from the Virginia General Assembly and becomes the Medical College of Virginia
1860 In return for a $30,000 appropriation MCV conveys all its property to the Commonwealth of Virginia and becomes a state institution
1861 A new hospital opens constructed with funds acquired in 1860
1861-65 During the American Civil War MCV remained opened and graduated a class each year of the war.  It is the only southern school still in existence with this distinction.
1867 MCVs first outpatient clinic established
1879 The Virginia General Assembly amended MCVs charter to allow the College to confer a degree in pharmacy
1889 MCV Alumni Association is organized
1893 College of Physicians and Surgeons, later University College of Medicine, was established by Dr. Hunter Holmes McGuire just three blocks away from MCV
1894 MCV medical curriculum is lengthened to three years
1895 The Old Dominion Hospital Training School for Nurses was established with Sadie Heath Cabaniss as superintendent; MCV student body adopts an honor code
1897 MCV establishes a School of Dentistry
1898 MCV establishes a School of Pharmacy with a two-year program
1900 MCV lengthens its medical curriculum to four years
1903 Memorial Hospital opens as a private hospital but is used by the faculty at MCV
1909 Dr. Abraham Flexner visits UCM and MCV as a part of his survey of American and Canadian medical schools
1912 McGuire Hall opens as the new home of the University College of Medicine
1913 MCV and UCM merged through the efforts of Dr. George Ben Johnston and Dr. Stuart McGuire. MCV acquires the Memorial Hospital as a result of the merger; MCV yearbook, The X-Ray begins
1915    Student newspaper Skull and Bones begins
1917    Female students admitted to professional programs as a war expedient
1918-19 Members of the MCV faculty serve with Dr. Stuart McGuire during the war at Base Hospital 45 in Toul, France
1920 Dooley Hospital and St. Philip Hospital open; St. Philip School of Nursing of the Medical College of Virginia opens
1925 Dr. William T. Sanger, former secretary for the State Board of Education, becomes MCV's third president; Nursing program is given recognition as a full collegiate school with its own dean; Pharmacy curriculum extended to three years
1926 Dr. William Branch Porter named the first full-time professor of medicine
1927 Egyptian Building and McGuire Hall are named
1928 Nursing Education Building (formerly Cabaniss Hall) opens
1929    Dietetic Internship program begins
1932 Four year program in pharmacy leading to at B.S. degree is established; New library building opens later called Tompkins-McCaw Library
1936 First graduate degrees are conferred (Biochemistry)
1938 MCV celebrates its centennial; New laboratory and outpatient clinic opens (A. D. Williams Memorial Clinic)--constructed with a Public Works Administration grant of $239,850
1941 The new MCV Hospital (MCV West Hospital) opens to national acclaim
1942-45 MCV organizes a medical unit to serve during the war.  General Hospital 45 serves in North Africa and Italy
1944 Baruch Center of Physical Medicine, forerunner of the School of Physical Therapy, was organizes with a grant of $250,000 from Bernard Baruch
1947 MCV Foundation is incorporated
1947 The first civilian burn unit in the country was established at MCV under the direction of Dr. Everett Evans
1949 School of Hospital Administration is organized
1951 First African American students are admitted to MCV; School of Medical Technology is organized
1952 First Ph.D. degree is awarded. (Pharmacology); School of Medicine Technology (Clinical Laboratory Science) established
1953 Program leading to a B.S. degree in nursing established
1954    Wood Memorial Building opens
1956 Dr. Robert Blackwell Smith becomes the fourth and last president of MCV; Dr. David Hume, a pioneer transplant surgeon, appointed Chairman and Professor of Surgery
1956-58 E. G. Williams Hospital opens in two phases
1957 Dr. David Hume performs the first kidney transplant at MCV on December 12, 1957; School of Graduate Studies organized with Dr. Ebbe C. Hoff as dean
1959    Bear, McRae, Rudd, and Warner Halls open; MCV is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
1960 Pharmacy curriculum is extended to five years
1962    Strauss Surgical Research Laboratory opens
1963 Medical Education Building (named for William T. Sanger in 1970) opens
1965    MCV integrates hospitals and clinics and formally ends segregation
1966 School of Basic Sciences and Graduate Studies established
1967 Self-Care Unit opened and later named for former Dean of the School of Medicine, Kinloch Nelson; New Cabaniss Hall dormitory opens
1968 The first heart transplant at the Medical College of Virginia is performed by Dr. Richard R. Lower
1968

Virginia Commonwealth University is created through the merger of Richmond Professional Institute and the Medical College of Virginia

See VCU Timeline for events after 1968