Type | Private |
---|---|
Established | 1891 |
Parent institution | Washington University in St. Louis |
Dean | David Perlmutter |
Academic staff | 1874 |
Students | 1349 (including 605 MD [183 MD/PhD] and 267 OT, 278 PT) |
Location | , , U.S. |
Campus | Urban |
Website | medicine |
Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis (WashU Medicine) is the medical school of Washington University in St. Louis, located in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1891, the School of Medicine shares a campus with Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis Children's Hospital, and the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center.
The clinical service is provided by Washington University Physicians, a comprehensive medical and surgical practice providing treatment in more than 75 medical specialties. Washington University Physicians are the medical staff of the school's two teaching hospitals – Barnes-Jewish Hospital and St. Louis Children's Hospital. They also provide inpatient and outpatient care at the St. Louis Veteran's Administration Hospital, hospitals of the BJC HealthCare system, and 35 other office locations throughout the greater St. Louis region.
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 stemmed from concern after an early 1900s Carnegie Foundation report derided the organization and quality of the Medical Department. [1]
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 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. [2] Of note, the first female faculty member is believed to have been biochemist and physiologist Ethel Ronzoni Bishop, who became an assistant professor in 1923. [3]
The Medical School began its escalation from regional renown in the 1940s, a decade when two groups of faculty members received Nobel Prizes, in 1944 and 1947. In 1947, Gerty Cori, a professor at the School of Medicine, became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Professors Carl and Gerty Cori became Washington University's fifth and sixth Nobel laureates for their discovery of how glycogen is broken down and resynthesized in the body. [4]
In 1950, a Cancer Research Building was completed, the first major addition to the School of Medicine since its 1914 move and one of several buildings added in the decade. In the 1960s the School of Medicine diversified its student body, graduating its first African-American student and substantially increasing the percentage of graduating students who are female to nearly half. [2]
In March 2020, Washington University School of Medicine announced the construction of a new $616 million, 11-story, 609,000-square-foot neuroscience research building which will sit at the eastern edge of the Medical Campus in the Cortex Innovation Community. Construction of the building finished in 2023. [5]
Washington University Medical Campus comprises 186 acres (75.3 ha) spread over about 18 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, are the teaching hospitals affiliated with the School of Medicine and are also located within the medical complex. Many of the buildings are connected via sky bridges and corridors. As of 2008, the School of Medicine occupies over 4,500,000 square feet (420,000 m2) in the complex. [6]
Olin Residence Hall, named for Spencer T. Olin, provides residential services for 200 medical and graduate students. [7]
Washington University and BJC HealthCare have taken on numerous joint venture projects since their original collaboration in the 1910s. One is the Center for Advanced Medicine, which houses the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center and was completed in December 2001. At 650,000 square feet (60,000 m2), it is one of the largest buildings in the complex. [8]
In 2007, construction began on the 700,000-square-foot (65,000 m2) BJC Institutes of Health, of which Washington University's Medical School occupies several floors. It is the largest building constructed on Washington University's campus. Called the BJC Institute of Health at Washington University, it houses the University's BioMed 21 Research Initiative, five interdisciplinary research centers, laboratories, and additional space for The Genome Center. [9]
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, the Siteman Cancer Center, Center for Advanced Medicine, Charles F. Knight Emergency and Trauma Center, and the Eric P. Newman Education Center.
The complex is accessible via the Central West End MetroLink station, which provides transportation to the rest of Washington University's campuses.
Washington University School of Medicine is recognized as one of the best medical schools in the United States, consistently ranking in the top ten medical schools within the country. [10]
Acceptance to the school's Doctor of Medicine (MD) program is extremely competitive, with more than 6,000 applications for about 124 openings each year. In 2022, accepted applicants had an average MCAT of 522 (99th percentile) and an average undergraduate GPA of 3.94. [11]
Its major teaching hospital, Barnes Jewish Hospital, was recognized in 2023 by U.S. News & World Report as one of the best hospitals in the entire United States, with the university ranked #5 in the nation among medical schools for research. [12] According to Doximity's 2024-2025 Residency Rankings, Washington University School of Medicine held top rankings in multiple specialties including #3 in Orthopedic Surgery, #5 in General Surgery, #3 in Radiology, #9 in OB-GYN, #7 in Neurology, and #10 in Neurosurgery. [13]
19 Nobel laureates have been associated with the School of Medicine. 15 faculty members are fellows of the National Academy of Sciences; 30 belong to the Institute of Medicine. 116 faculty members hold individual career development awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). 77 faculty members hold career development awards from non-federal agencies. 15 faculty members have MERIT status, a special recognition given by the National Institutes of Health that provides long-term, uninterrupted financial support to investigators. [16]
Physiology or Medicine
Chemistry
Carl Ferdinand Cori, ForMemRS was a Czech-American biochemist and pharmacologist. He, together with his wife Gerty Cori and Argentine physiologist Bernardo Houssay, received a Nobel Prize in 1947 for their discovery of how the glucose derivative glycogen is broken down and resynthesized in the body for use as a store and source of energy. In 2004, both Coris were designated a National Historic Chemical Landmark in recognition of their work that elucidated carbohydrate metabolism.
Gerty Theresa Cori was a Bohemian-Austrian and American biochemist who in 1947 was the third woman to win a Nobel Prize in science, and the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, for her role in the "discovery of the course of the catalytic conversion of glycogen".
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center is a public academic health science center in Dallas, Texas. With approximately 23,000 employees, more than 3,000 full-time faculty, and nearly 4 million outpatient visits per year, UT Southwestern is the largest medical school in the University of Texas System and the State of Texas.
Daniel Nathans was an American microbiologist. He shared the 1978 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of restriction enzymes and their application in restriction mapping.
Edwin Gerhard Krebs was an American biochemist. He received the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research and the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize of Columbia University in 1989 together with Alfred Gilman and, together with his collaborator Edmond H. Fischer, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1992 for describing how reversible phosphorylation works as a switch to activate proteins and regulate various cellular processes.
The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) is the medical school of Johns Hopkins University, a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1893, the School of Medicine shares a campus with Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns Hopkins Children's Center, established in 1889.
The University of Maryland School of Medicine, located in Baltimore City, Maryland, U.S., is the medical school of the University of Maryland, Baltimore and is affiliated with the University of Maryland Medical Center and Medical System. Established in 1807 as the College of Medicine of Maryland, it is the first public and the fifth oldest medical school in the United States. UMB SOM's campus includes Davidge Hall, which was built in 1812, and is the oldest building in continuous use for medical education in the Northern Hemisphere.
Barnes-Jewish Hospital is the largest hospital in the U.S. state of Missouri. Located in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis, it is the adult teaching hospital for Washington University School of Medicine and a major component of Washington University Medical Center.
The Boston University School of Medicine is the medical school of Boston University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1848. Originally known as the New England Female Medical College, it was renamed Boston University School of Medicine in 1873, then Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine in 2022. In 1864, it became the first medical school in the United States to award an MD degree to an African-American woman.
Barnes–Jewish West County Hospital is a 108-bed hospital within Greater St. Louis in the western St. Louis County, Missouri suburb of Creve Coeur. The hospital is located along the major arterial Olive Boulevard, one mile west of Interstate 270.
Graham Andrew Colditz MD, DrPH is an Australian chronic disease epidemiologist. He is the inaugural Niess-Gain Professor at Washington University School of Medicine, where he is associate director for Prevention and Control at the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center. He directs the Master of Population Health Science at Washington University School of Medicine. During medical training he was excited by the potential for prevention of chronic diseases. With encouragement from mentors he pursued training in the US as it was routine for academics in Australia to obtain overseas training at that time. He is internationally recognized for leadership in cancer prevention, and is often interviewed by media for input on this topic. With members of Cancer Prevention and Control at Siteman, he blogs on issues relating to cancer prevention and screening. According to Google Scholar statistics, Colditz has a h-index of more than 300. Colditz was a member of the Institute of Medicine Committee to Review Adverse Effects of Vaccines but resigned, along with Ruby H. N. Nguyen, before it produced its seminal report.
The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences is the professional medical school of the George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. SMHS is one of the most selective medical schools in the United States based on the number of applicants.
BJC HealthCare is a non-profit health care organization based in St. Louis, Missouri. BJC includes two nationally recognized academic hospitals – Barnes–Jewish Hospital and St. Louis Children's Hospital, which are both affiliated with the Washington University School of Medicine.
McDonnell Genome Institute at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, is one of three NIH funded large-scale sequencing centers in the United States. Affiliated with Washington University School of Medicine and the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center, the McDonnell Genome Institute is creating, testing and implementing new approaches to the study of genomics with the goal of understanding human health and disease, as well as evolution and the biology of other organisms.
Timothy J. Ley is an American hematologist and cancer biologist. He is the Lewis T. and Rosalind B. Apple Professor of Oncology in the department of medicine, and is chief of the section of stem cell biology in the division of oncology at Washington University in St. Louis. He is a member of the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center.
The Washington University Medical Campus (WUMC), located in St. Louis, Missouri, is a large scale health-care focused commercial development located in the Central West End neighborhood of St Louis. The WUMC corporate partners are Barnes-Jewish Hospital, BJC HealthCare, St. Louis Children’s Hospital, and Washington University School of Medicine.
The Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine is a cancer treatment, research and education institution with six locations in the St. Louis area. Siteman is the only cancer center in Missouri and within 240 miles of St. Louis to be designated a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Siteman is also the only area member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, a nonprofit alliance of 32 cancer centers dedicated to improving the quality and effectiveness of cancer care.
The University of Western Australia Medical School is the medical school of The University of Western Australia, located in Perth, Western Australia. Established in 1957, it is the oldest medical school in Western Australia, with over 6000 alumni. Well known for its research and clinical teaching, the medical school is ranked 8th in the world and 1st in Australia by the 2019 Academic Ranking of World Universities in clinical medicine. The medical school is affiliated with various teaching hospitals in Perth such as Royal Perth Hospital and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. The medical school is also heavily affiliated with the Queen Elizabeth II Medical Centre and its various research institutes. The school has prominent researchers and clinicians amongst its faculty and alumni, including Nobel Prize laureates Barry Marshall and Robin Warren ; recipients of the Australian of the Year award Fiona Stanley and Fiona Wood; and cancer researcher Richard Pestell. The school has produced 11 Rhodes Scholars.