Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Case Western Reserve School of Medicine is one of the graduate schools of Case Western Reserve University, and is located in the University Circle neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio. The School of Medicine is among the top 25 medical schools in the United States and is the top-ranked medical school of Ohio in research per U.S. News & World Report. Additionally, Case School of Medicine is the largest biomedical research center in Ohio. In 2015, the average MCAT score for the entering class was 36.
Prospective students have the option of three degree paths leading to a medical degree at the School of Medicine: the traditional "University Program" whose origins go back to 1843, the "College Program" at the Cleveland Clinic started in 2002; and the Medical Scientist Training Program, which awards an MD and PhD upon graduation. Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine was the first medical school to offer the dual degree MD-PhD program to its students in 1956, nearly a decade before the NIH developed the MSTP.
In 2002, the School of Medicine became the third institution in history to receive the best review possible from the body that grants accreditation to U.S. and Canadian medical degree programs, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education.
History
On November 1, 1843, under President George Edmond Pierce, five faculty members including Jared Potter Kirtland and John Delamater, and sixty-seven students began the first medical lectures at the Medical Department of Western Reserve College in Hudson, Ohio. Kirtland and Delamater had previously been instructors at a medical college started in 1834, the Medical Department of Willoughby University of Lake Erie, which had closed in 1843 due to faculty disagreements. Other faculty from that Medical Department went on to found Willoughby Medical College of Columbus, a precursor to the Ohio State University College of Medicine.– 1854 MD alumna. CaseMed graduated six of the first seven women to receive U.S. medical degrees.
Women in Medicine
In 1852, the medical school became the second in the U.S. to graduate a woman, Nancy Talbot Clark. 1854 MD alumna, Emily Blackwell became the third woman in the US to receive a regular medical degree. Six of the first seven women in the United States to receive medical degrees from recognized allopathic medical schools graduated from Western Reserve University between 1850 and 1856.Flexner Report
In 1909, Abraham Flexner, a graduate of Johns Hopkins University, surveyed and evaluated each of the 155 medical schools then extant in North America, with his results published the following year in what came to be known as the Flexner Report. The results proved shocking: most "medical schools," for example, had entrance requirements no more stringent than either high school diploma or "rudiments or the recollection of a common school education." Only sixteen schools required at least two years of college as an entrance requirement, and of these, Johns Hopkins, Harvard, and Western Reserve were still the only ones to require an undergraduate degree. Although Johns Hopkins represented his ideal, Flexner also singled out the Medical Department of Western Reserve University for its praiseworthy admission standards and facilities. Flexner referred to Western Reserve as "already one of the substantial schools in the country." In a letter to Western Reserve president Charles Franklin Thwing he said, "The Medical Department of Western Reserve University is, next to Johns Hopkins..., the best in the country."Western Reserve Curriculum
A little over 40 years later, in 1952, the Western Reserve University School of Medicine revolutionized medical education with the "new curriculum of 1952" and more advanced stages in 1968. This was the most progressive medical curriculum in the country at that time, integrating the basic and clinical sciences.Research History
Development of the modern technique for human blood transfusion using a cannula to connect blood vessels; first large-scale medical research project on humans in a study linking iodine with goiter prevention; pioneering use of drinking water chlorination; discovery of the cause of ptomaine food poisoning and development of serum against it and similar poisons; first surgical treatments of coronary artery disease; discovery of early treatment of strep throat infections to prevent rheumatic fever; development of an early heart-lung machine to be used during open-heart surgery procedures; discovery of the Hageman factor in blood clotting, a major discovery in blood coagulation research; first description of how staphylococcus infections are transmitted, leading to required hand-washing between patients in infant nurseries; first description of what was later named Reye's syndrome; research leading to FDA approval of clozapine, the most advanced treatment for schizophrenia in 40 years at the time; discovery of the gene for osteoarthritis; and creation with Athersys, Inc., of the world's first human artificial chromosome.Health Education Campus
In 2019, the School of Medicine relocated to the Samson Pavilion Health Education Campus on the campus of the Cleveland Clinic, a $515 million building project, amid a multi-million dollar joint fundraising campaign between CWRU and the Cleveland Clinic. The campus houses students Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing and Case School of Dental Medicine, all of which—with the exception of CCLCM—had previously held classes on the campus of CWRU and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center. The move, announced in 2013, was a major contributing factor for University Hospitals to shift its name from University Hospitals Case Medical Center to University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center in 2016, as well as renegotiate its affiliation agreement with CWRU that same year.Notable alumni and faculty
- Shuvo Roy, Professor, Inventor of Artificial Kidney
- Nancy Talbot Clark & Emily Blackwell - second and third women in the United States to earn a medical degree. Six of the first seven women in the United States to receive medical degrees from recognized allopathic medical schools graduated from Western Reserve University between 1850 and 1856.
- Marie Elizabeth Zakrzewska - founder of the New England Hospital for Women and Children.
- George Washington Crile - Performed first blood transfusion. Established Lakeside Hospital of what is now University Hospitals Case Medical Center, and later co-founded Cleveland Clinic. Crile was a graduate of Wooster Medical College which merged to form modern day CaseMed.
- John A. Rice - member of the Wisconsin State Senate.
- Thomas Wingate Todd, Professor of Anatomy
- Matthew N. Levy, Professor of Physiology, co-author of Berne & Levy's Principles of Physiology
Nobel laureates
Alumni
- 1980 - Paul Berg, Nobel Prize in Chemistry for pioneering research in recombinant DNA technology.
- 1985 & 1997 - H. Jack Geiger, Though not a recipient of Nobel prize directly, he was the founding member and past president of Physicians for Human Rights which shared the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize as part of International Campaign to Ban Landmines. He also was a founding member of Physicians for Social Responsibility which shared the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize as part of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War.
- 1994 - Alfred Gilman, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for co-discovery of G Proteins
- 1998 - Ferid Murad, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for role in the discovery of nitric oxide in cardiovascular signaling
- 2003 - Peter C. Agre, Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering Aquaporin protein that clarified how salts and water are transported out of and into the cells of the body, leading to a better understanding of many diseases of the kidneys, heart, muscles and nervous system.
Faculty
- 1923 - John J.R. Macleod, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, for discovery of Insulin
- 1938 - Corneille J.F. Heymans, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for work on carotid sinus reflex
- 1954 - Frederick C. Robbins, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, for work on polio virus, which led to development of polio vaccines; past president of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.
- 1971 - Earl W. Sutherland, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, for establishing identity and importance of cyclic adenosine monophosphate or cyclic AMP in regulation of cell metabolism. Sutherland discovered cAMP while at CaseMed.
- 1988 - George H. Hitchings, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, for research leading to development of drugs to treat leukemia, organ transplant rejection, gout, herpes virus, and AIDS-related bacterial and pulmonary infections.
Public health
- Sidney Katz - Pioneering American physician, scientist, educator, author, and public servant. Most noted for creating the first Activities of Daily Living Scale
- Jesse Leonard Steinfeld - U.S. Surgeon General, most noted for achieving widespread fluoridation of water, requiring prescription drugs to be effective, and strengthening the Surgeon General's Warning on cigarettes.
- David Satcher - U.S. Surgeon General under President Bill Clinton, and first African-American director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Julie L. Gerberding - first woman director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Michael Ehlert - 2007-08 National President of the American Medical Student Association.
- John Brockman - 2010-11 National President of the American Medical Student Association.
Other
- 1912 - Professor Roger Perkins pioneered the process of chlorinating drinking water.
- 1915 - Henry Gerstenberger first simulated milk formula for infants.
- 1927 - Immunologist Enrique Ecker discovered the cause of ptomaine food poisoning and development of an antiserum.
- 1935 - Claude Beck -
- * Performed first surgical treatment of coronary artery disease
- * Performed first defibrillation using machine he built with James Rand
- * Developed concept of Beck's Triad
- * Started the first CPR teaching course for medical professionals.
- 1950s - Professor Frederick Cross developed first heart-lung machine for use in open heart surgeries.
- 1961 - Professor Austin Weisburger performed first successful genetic alteration of human cells in a test tube.
- 1969 - William Insull, MD describes the role of cholesterol in blood vessel disease.
- 1975 - Discovery that human renin, an enzyme produced by the kidney, is involved in hypertension
- 1990 - National team led by rheumatologist Roland Moskowitz discovers gene for osteoarthritis.
- 1991 - James A. Schulak, MD, and colleagues perform first triple organ transplant in Ohio-a kidney, liver and pancreas.
- 1997 - Team led by Professor Huntington Willard create world's first artificial human chromosome.
- M. Scott Peck - psychiatrist and author of The Road Less Traveled
- Amit Patel - stem cell surgeon who demonstrated stem cell transplantation can treat congestive heart failure.
- 2004 - Craig Smith leads the cardiac surgery team which performs President Bill Clinton's coronary artery bypass surgery.
- Richard Walsh, MD - Current editor of Hurst's The Heart Manual of Cardiology.
- Peter Tippett - Inventor of early anti-virus software.
- Alfredo Palacio - President of Ecuador.
- David Jenkins- won the men's gold medal for figure skating during the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California
- Renee Salas – emergency medicine physician known for her work on climate change
Ranking
| Medicine Area | National Rank |
| Overall | 20 |
| Biomedical Engineering | 11 |
| Family Medicine | 15 |
| Pediatrics | 16 |
2008 NIH research rankings
| Area | National Rank |
| Overall | 17 |
| Nutrition | 1 |
| Pediatrics | 3 |
| Orthopedics | 6 |
| Dermatology | 7 |
| Family Medicine | 12 |
| Urology | 14 |
- Case School of Medicine is the largest biomedical research center in Ohio.
Education
Small group learning
Small group learning is a central part of the Case curriculum. As part of the school's Western Reserve2 curriculum, small group Case Inquiry sessions are attended by students three times per week during the didactic years of medical school. Students are required to review selected readings and engage in their own research to prepare for these sessions. When the group convenes, the students discuss their findings, driving an active and engaged learning process. Furthermore, the participation guidelines are structured in a manner to simulate the type of small-group experiences students will encounter with attending physicians in their clinical years.Primary teaching hospitals
- University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center
- Cleveland Clinic
- MetroHealth Medical Center
- Louis Stokes Cleveland Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center
Other teaching affiliates
- St. Vincent Charity Hospital
- The Free Medical Clinic of Greater Cleveland
Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine
The class size each year is 32 students, and the curriculum is notable for its lack of class rank, pre-clinical or clinical grading, or end-of-course examinations. In 2008, Cleveland Clinic announced that all students entering the program would receive full tuition scholarships, representing the first medical school program in the United States not to charge students tuition. The Cleveland Clinic, rather than CWRU, is responsible for all financial aspects of the school. Administration of the school, including deans, administrative staff, and admissions, is separate from the School of Medicine, which provides oversight over academic matters at CCLCM.
Student life
Societies
Case Medical School is divided into five societies named after famous CaseMed alums. Upon matriculation, students in the University Program are assigned to a society. Each has a Society Dean who serves as an academic adviser to the students. The societies are:- Frederick C. Robbins Society
- Emily Blackwell-Elizabeth McKinley Society
- David Satcher Society
- Joseph Wearn Society
- H. Jack Geiger Society
Doc Opera
Every year, students at Case Western Reserve SOM write, direct and perform a full length musical parody, lampooning Case Western Reserve, their professors, and themselves. In recent years, the show has been a benefit for the Free Medical Clinic of Greater Cleveland.Role in Cleveland and Ohio
During 2007, the economic impact of the School of Medicine and its affiliates on the State of Ohio equaled $5.82 billion and accounted for more than 65,000 Ohio jobs.The role of Case Western Reserve University in the Cleveland economy has been reported on by The Economist magazine.
In popular culture
- In 2010, the show Boston Med on ABC features CaseMed alumnus and current faculty, Jeff Ustin, MD, as well as alumni Rahul Rathod, MD and Elizabeth Blume, MD.