Washington University School of Medicine

Washington University School of Medicine

File:Washington University Medical School Logo.png
Type	Private
Established	1891
Dean	Larry J. Shapiro, MD
Academic staff	1874
Students	1349 including 605 MD (183 MD/PhD) 267 OT, 278 PT
Location	St. Louis , Missouri , USA
Campus	Urban
Website	medschool.wustl.edu

Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM), located in St. Louis, Missouri, is the medical school, and a biomedical research institution, of Washington University in St. Louis. The school is currently ranked 6th for research in the United States according to 'U.S. News and World Report' and has been listed among the top ten medical schools since rankings were first published in 1987. The School of Medicine consistently ranks first in the nation in student selectivity. Located on the eastern border of Forest Park, it is affiliated with Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis Children's Hospital, the St. Louis Veteran's Administration Hospital, Shriner's Hospital for Children and several other community sites.

Founded in 1891, the School of Medicine has 1,260 students, of which 604 are pursuing a Medical Degree with or without a combined Doctor of Philosophy or other advanced degree. It also offers doctorate degrees in biomedical research through the Division of Biology and Biological Sciences. The School has developed large physical therapy (273 students) and occupational therapy (233 students) programs, as well as the Program in Audiology and Communication Sciences (75 students) which includes a Doctor of Audiology (Au.D.) degree and a Master of Science in Deaf Education (M.S.D.E.) degree. There are 1,772 faculty, 1,022 residents, and 765 fellows.

Faculty

17 Nobel laureates have been associated with the School of Medicine. 12 faculty members are fellows of the National Academy of Sciences; 30 belong to the Institute of Medicine. 92 faculty members hold individual career development awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). 59 faculty members hold career development awards from non-federal agencies. 14 faculty members have MERIT status, a special recognition given by the National Institutes of Health that provides long-term, uninterrupted financial support to investigators. 6 faculty members are Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigators.

History

Medical classes were first held at Washington University in 1891 after the St. Louis Medical College decided to affiliate with the University, establishing a Medical Department. Robert S. Brookings, a University benefactor from its earliest days, devoted much of his work and philanthropy to Washington University, and made the improvement of the Medical Department one of his primary objectives. This especially became a cause for concern after an early 1900s Carnegie Foundation report derided the organization and quality of the Medical Department.

Following a trend in medical education across the country, research and the creation of new knowledge became a stated objective in a 1906 course catalog for the medical department. For Brookings and the University, incorporating the Medical Department into a separate School of Medicine seemed to be the next logical step. This process began in 1914 when facilities were permanently moved to their current location in St. Louis's Central West End neighborhood in 1914, and was completed in 1918 with the official naming of the School of Medicine.

The Medical School began its escalation from regional renown in the 1940s, a decade when two Nobel Prizes were awarded, in 1944 and 1947, to groups of faculty members. In 1950, a Cancer Research Building was completed, being the first major new building addition to the School of Medicine since its relocation in 1914. More buildings were added in that decade, and in the 1960s the School of Medicine focused on diversifying its student body by graduating its first African-American and substantially increasing the percentage of graduating students who are female to nearly 50%.

Campus

Washington University Medical Center

Washington University Medical Center comprises 155 acres (0.5 km²) spread over approximately 15 city blocks, located along the eastern edge of Forest Park within the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis. Barnes-Jewish Hospital and St. Louis Children's Hospital, part of BJC HealthCare, the teaching hospitals affiliated with the School of Medicine, are also located within the medical complex. Many of the buildings are connected via a series of sky bridges and corridors. As of 2008, the School of Medicine occupies over 4,500,000 square feet (420,000 m²) in the entire medical complex.

Washington University and BJC HealthCare have taken on many joint venture projects since their original collaboration in the 1910s. The Center for Advanced Medicine, completed in December 2001, is one such collaboration, which houses the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center. At 650,000 square feet (60,000 m²), it is one of the largest single buildings in the Medical Complex.

In the expansive Medical Complex are several especially large buildings. The Medical Complex's Queeny Tower is the 9th tallest hospital building in the world. Recently completed is the 700,000-square-foot (65,000 m²) BJC Institutes of Health, of which Washington University's Medical School will occupy several floors. It is the largest building constructed on Washington University's campus. Called the BJC Institute of Health at Washington University, it will house the University's BioMed 21 Research Initiative, five interdiscplinary research centers, laboratories, and additional space for The Genome Center.

On Monday, July 19, 2010, a news release from the website of the Washington University School of Medicine announced the formation of the Washington University Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (WUIDDRC). The new research center was established by a five-year, $6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (the NIH), and will focus on research to prevent and treat developmental disabilities in children. Special emphasis will be placed on clinical and translational research as well as reaching out to families and the community with resources and services. The center will work closely with the state of Missouri. Dr. Terrie E. Inder, M.D., Ph.D., who is a neonatal specialist and a professor of pediatrics, radiology, and of neurology, will direct the center. It will be under the auspices of the pediatrics department of the medical school, headed by Dr. Alan L. Schwartz, Ph.D., M.D. The center's research focus will be on cerebral connectivity, genetics, and environmental influences. Its sections are administrative, animal models, human clinical, imaging and biostatistics and informatics. The institute will collaborate with other IDDRCs in the Midwest. The center received additional start-up funding from the McDonnell Centers for System Neuroscience and Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology and from the Washington University School of Medicine.

Prominent buildings, centers, and spaces at the medical campus includes Barnes-Jewish Hospital, the Central Institute for the Deaf, St. Louis Children's Hospital, Rehabilitation Institute of Saint Louis, Siteman Cancer Center, Center for Advanced Medicine, Charles F. Knight Emergency and Trauma Center, and the Eric P. Newman Education Center.

The Medical Complex is accessible via the Central West End MetroLink station, which provides transportation to the rest of Washington University's campuses.

Washington University Department of Orthopaedic Surgery

Washington University Department of Orthopaedic is part of Washington University School of Medicine. It provides a full continuum of care to both children and adults through inpatient treatment and outpatient care and rehabilitation. Washington University Orthopedics is led by Richard H Gelberman, M.D., the Fred C. Reynolds Professor of Orthopedic Surgery and Chairman of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine.

The department is affiliated with Barnes-Jewish Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center, and St. Louis Children's Hospital. It is also affiliated with the Veterans Administrative Medical Center (VA) in St. Louis and Shriners Hospital for Children in St. Louis. The Sports Medicine Specialists provide sports medicine care for professional sports teams in St. Louis including the St. Louis Rams Football Team, St. Louis Blues Hockey Team, and Saint Louis Athletica Soccer Team. They also serve as team physicians for Washington University Athletic Teams, Troy High School and Lafayette High School in St. Louis, MO.

History

Aaron J. Steele, MD was the first professor and chairman of Washington University Department of Orthopaedic Surgery in 1899. He was a surgeon during the Civil War. He was reportedly one of the first to practice orthopedic surgery west of the Allegheny Mountains. Steele helped organize the American Orthopaedic Association (AOA) and was AOA president in 1893. Nathaniel Allison, MD, became the second chairman of Washington University Department of Orthopaedic Surgery in 1912. He was elected AOA president in 1922 and served as dean of the medical school and orthopedic chairman from 1920 to 1923. He was co-editor of the American Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery, the forerunner of The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery. Other chairmen enhanced the department’s national reputation through leadership and clinical, education and research contributions, including J. Albert Key, MD, and Fred C. Reynolds, MD. Key and Leroy Abbott, MD, who preceded Key as chairman, were AOA presidents. Reynolds, twice the department chairman, was AAOS president in 1965 and a National Football League (NFL) Physician’s Society founder and president. H.R. McCarroll, MD, team physician for the St. Louis Cardinals, was AAOS president in 1958. Early in its development the university, which was affiliated with Barnes Hospital, merged with Jewish Hospital and then also with St. Louis Children’s Hospital. It then became affiliated with the Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the St. Louis Shriners Hospital for Children which helped to provide additional clinical and educational experience for the subspecialties. In 1995 the formal Department of Orthopedic Surgery was created at Washington University School of Medicine due to the ideas of Dean William A. Peck, MD.

Faculty Emeritus

• Aaron Steele, AOA President (1893)
• Nathaniel Allison, AOA President (1922)
• Leroy Abbott, AOA President (1947)
• J. Albert Key, AOA President (1946)
• Fred C. Reynolds, AAOS President (1965)
• Henry McCarroll, AAOS President (1958)
• Richard H. Gelberman, AAOS President (2001)

Nobel Laureates

Physiology or Medicine

• 1943: Edward A. Doisy (1893–1986), Faculty of Medicine, 1919–1923
• 1944: Joseph Erlanger (1874–1965), Chairman, Department of Physiology 1910-1946
• 1944: Herbert Gasser (1888–1963), Faculty of Medicine, 1916–1931
• 1947: Carl F. Cori (1896–1984), Faculty of Medicine 1931-1984
• 1947: Gerty T. Cori (1896–1957), Faculty of Medicine 1931-1957
• 1959: Arthur Kornberg, Chairman, Department of Microbiology, 1952–1959
• 1959: Severo Ochoa, Faculty of Medicine 1940-1942
• 1969: Alfred Hershey (1908–1997), Faculty of Medicine 1934-1950
• 1971: Earl Sutherland (1915–1974), M.D. 42, Resident in Internal Medicine 1943-1945, Faculty of Medicine, 1945–1953
• 1974: Christian de Duve, Faculty of Medicine 1946-1947
• 1978: Daniel Nathans (1928–1999), M.D. 54
• 1978: Hamilton O. Smith, Washington University Medical Service 1956-1957
• 1980: George D. Snell, Faculty of Arts and Sciences 1933-1934
• 1986: Stanley Cohen, Faculty of Arts and Sciences 1953-1959
• 1986: Rita Levi-Montalcini, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, 1948-
• 1992: Edwin G. Krebs, M.D. 43, Resident in Internal Medicine and then a Research Fellow in Biological Chemistry 1945-1948
• 1998: Robert F. Furchgott, Ph.D. Faculty of Medicine, 1949–1956

Chemistry

• 1970: Luis F. Leloir, Faculty of Medicine 1944
• 1980: Paul Berg, Faculty of Medicine 1954-1959

Other associated hospitals

• St. Louis Children's Hospital
• Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center
• Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital
• Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital
• Christian Hospital
• Northwest HealthCare
• Metropolitan St. Louis Psychiatric Center
• Missouri Baptist Medical Center
• St. Louis Shriner's Hospital

External links

• Washington University School of Medicine
• Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences
• Department of Orthopaedic Surgery Website