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Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.). Medical School

 Organization

Biography

The Northwestern University Medical School began as the medical department of Lind University (later Lake Forest University) in 1859, located at Randolph and Market Streets in Chicago. In 1864, the medical department became an independent school, the Chicago Medical College, housed in a building at 22nd and State Streets. The founder of the College, Nathan Smith Davis, was an innovator in medical education who wanted to establish a three-year program that went beyond the traditional lecture-and-apprenticeship program. In 1870, the medical school affiliated with Northwestern, becoming the first professional school to be added to the liberal arts college in fulfillment of the founders' goal of creating a university. The school moved to a building at 26th Street and Prairie Avenue, where it remained until 1893. The Chicago Medical College became the Northwestern University Medical School in 1891. The Medical School moved again in 1893, to a Northwestern University plot of land on the twenty-four hundred block of South Dearborn, where it remained until Northwestern opened its Near North Side Chicago Campus in 1926.

Chicago Medical College founder Nathan Smith Davis served as the school's first dean from 1870, after its union with Northwestern, until 1898. Davis was followed by Franklin Seward Johnson (1898-1901). The third dean was Davis' son, Nathan Smith Davis, Jr. (1901-1907). The younger Davis' tenure as Dean was followed by those of Arthur Robin Edwards (1907-1916), Arthur Isaac Kendall (1916-1924), and Irving Samuel Cutler (1925-1941).

The medical school went through a number of changes in admission and graduation requirements during the first two decades of the twentieth century. In 1908 requirements for admission were raised to include one year of college, rather than just a high school diploma. In 1911, applicants were required to have completed two years of college. The American Medical Association itself did not require this level of education until 1918. Nathan Smith Davis, Jr., who favored more stringent requirements, clashed with his more traditional faculty over this issue and resigned his deanship in 1907.

In 1915, the medical school became one of six schools nationwide to require a fifth-year internship to earn the M.D. degree. These changes caused a drop in enrollment over the next few years, from 470 students in the 1909-1910 academic year to a low of 181 students in 1913-1914. Registration was up again to 413 students in 1919-1920 and, in the long run, the changes served to enhance the medical school's reputation.

For more information on the history of the Northwestern University Medical School, see Leslie B. Arey, Northwestern University Medical School, 1859-1979 (Evanston and Chicago: Northwestern University Medical School, 1979).

Found in 42 Collections and/or Records:

Medical School Special Course and Program Transcripts

 Collection
Identifier: 18/2/8
Abstract

These records comprise course and grade transcripts for Medical School graduate, special, physical therapy, and laboratory technology students.

Dates: 1934-1954

Medical School Student Grade Records

 Collection
Identifier: 18/1/2
Abstract

This series of student grade records for Northwestern University's Medical School consists of twelve volumes that document the academic records of students pursuing the M.D. degree from 1948 through 1972.

Dates: 1948-1972

Medical School Student Grade Records

 Collection
Identifier: 18/1/4
Abstract

This series contains Northwestern University Medical School student grade records for the academic years 1970/1971 to 1976/1977; it fills two boxes.

Dates: 1970-1977

Medical School Student Grade Transcripts

 Collection
Identifier: 18/1/5
Scope and Contents This series is comprised of two volumes of transcripts documenting student coursework completed at the Northwestern University Medical School during the period 1967-1971. The bulk of the transcripts date from the years 1969-1971 and pertain to the senior and junior classes of 1973. Generally, the transcripts record the grades signifying honors, pass, and fail for coursework undertaken by each student during his or her first two years of study.In addition to grades, each...
Dates: 1967 - 1971; Other: Majority of material found within 1969 - 1971

Medical School Student Records

 Collection
Identifier: 18/1/3
Abstract

This series of Medical School student records fills sixteen boxes and spans the years from 1942 through 1984.

Dates: 1942-1969

Medical School Student Records

 Collection
Identifier: 18/1/1
Abstract This series of Medical School student records is divided into two subseries: recipients of the M.D. degree and students withdrawing from the Medical School prior to completing degree requirements. For the period 1903-1911, the records consist solely of transcript cards bearing the individual's student's name and age, address, and parents' names and a list of degrees awarded and course credits. For all other years, records may include: applications for admission to study, related...
Dates: 1902-1959

Records of the Medical Specialty Training Program

 Collection
Identifier: 18/2/21
Abstract

This collection contains documents relating to the administration of the Medical Specialty Training Program (a division within Northwestern University's Medical School) for the years 1936-1951. It includes correspondence to and from program administrators, faculty and affiliated hospitals, some financial records generated by the program, minutes from committee meetings relating to the program and records of doctors enrolled in the program.

Dates: 1936-1951

Medical Technology Program Master of Science Degree Theses

 Collection
Identifier: 18/2/23
Abstract

The series incorporates theses written in fulfillment of requirements for the master of science degree in medical technology. The theses date between 1973 and 1980.

Dates: 1973-1980

Medical Technology Program Student Clinical Rotation Grade Records

 Collection
Identifier: 18/2/10
Abstract

This series is comprised of hand-written cards recording individual students' grades on the several clinical rotations required in the program.

Dates: 1936-1981

Medical Technology Program Student Record Books

 Collection
Identifier: 18/2/12
Abstract

This series includes ledger entries of student grades for courses in Northwestern University's Medical Technology Program from 1932 to 1985.

Dates: 1935-1982

Medical Technology Program Student Records

 Collection
Identifier: 18/2/11
Abstract

The records of the Medical Technology Program fill one box, and span the years 1964-1982.  Included are Clinical Laboratory Rotation Attendance Reports, Checklists for Laboratory Rotation and Requests for Excused Absences.  These materials were dated 1980-1981. Also included in the series are Order Forms for Medical Technology Pins (1970-1982) as well as Recommendations for Former Students in the Medical Technology Program (1964-1982).

Dates: 1964-1982

Medical Technology Program Student Transcripts and Certificates

 Collection
Identifier: 18/2/5
Abstract

This series of Medical Technology Training Program student records fills two boxes and spans the years from 1923 to 1980.  The series contains both transcripts and certificates of completion.

Dates: 1923-1980

Medical Technology/Laboratory Technology Programs Students Admission Records

 Collection
Identifier: 18/2/6
Abstract This series of Medical Technology/Laboratory Technology student admission records documents the application process and, in some cases, the academic record of students pursuing either the one year program in Laboratory Technology or the two year program in Medical Technology. The type and amount of material varies from student to student. Generally, folders include admission and scholarship applications, correspondence pertaining to the student's admission to one or the other program,...
Dates: 1931-1981

Northwestern Medical School, Records of the Dean

 Collection
Identifier: 18/7/5
Abstract

These records of the deans of the Northwestern University Medical School date from 1956 through 1994. Including both incoming and outgoing correspondence, reports, and other forms of documentation, they are divided into five subseries: general files, committee files, departmental files, files relating to hospitals affiliated with the Medical School, and files pertaining to the Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation.

Dates: 1956 - 1994; Other: Majority of material found within 1970 - 1989

Northwestern University Medical School Curriculum Committee Records

 Collection
Identifier: 18/2/24
Abstract The records of the Northwestern University Medical School Curriculum Committee fill six boxes and span the years from 1939 through 1980. The records include letters of appointment of members to the committee, correspondence between members of the committee, proposed yearly schedules for Medical School classes, and reports of several subcommittees. An addition of 6 folders includes the files of a sub-committee charged with developing a catalog of elective courses for students in their last...
Dates: 1939-1980

Records of the Northwestern University Medical School Medical Council

 Collection
Identifier: 18/2/20
Abstract

The Medical Council Records fill two boxes and date between 1914 to 1949, with the bulk of the records dating between 1943 and 1949, documenting the Medical School deanship of J. Roscoe Miller. Records consist primarily of notes and minutes of the meetings held within this time period.

Dates: 1914-1949

Records of the Office of the Registrar, Northwestern University Medical School

 Collection
Identifier: 18/1/7
Abstract The Northwestern University Medical School began as the medical department of Lind University in 1859. In 1915, the medical school became one of six schools nationwide to require a fifth-year internship to earn the M.D. degree. Although the movement toward more stringent requirements was controversial, in the long run, the changes served to enhance the medical school’s reputation. The records of the Office of the Registrar span the years 1894 to 1927. The bulk of the ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS...
Dates: 1894-1927

Office of Graduate Medical Education - Administrative Subject Files

 Collection
Identifier: 18/2/9
Abstract

These records consist of administrative subject files from the office of Northwestern University's Associate Dean of Graduate Medical Education. They document relations between the Office and participating hospitals, Medical School departments, and local and national medical agencies.

Dates: 1970-1983

Martin H. Seifert (1902-1985) Papers

 Collection
Identifier: 18/3/6/3
Abstract Seifert joined the faculty of the Northwestern University Medical School in 1942 as a Clinical Assistant in Medicine and became an Assistant Professor of Medicine there in 1954. He became Professor Emeritus in 1971. The Martin H. Seifert Papers consist of one box, spanning the years 1928-1993. The bulk of the records consist of lecture notes, scholarly articles and papers presented to the medical community. The records are divided into six subseries: Biographical Materials, Education,...
Dates: 1928-1993

Tom D. Spies papers

 Collection — Box 1
Identifier: ghsl-44
Abstract

Papers related to the career of nutritionist Tom D. Spies, including reports and promotional information about the Institute of Nutrition at Northwestern University and the Spies Committee for Clinical Research.

Dates: 1948 - 1958