Morehouse School of Medicine is a

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co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

medical school A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

, Georgia. Originally a part of

Morehouse College , mottoeng = And there was light (literal translation of Latin itself translated from Hebrew: "And light was made") , type = Private historically black men's liberal arts college , academic_affiliations ...

, the school became independent in 1981. The school abbreviates its name with its initials "MSM."

History

Establishment

Founded as a part of

in 1975 during the tenure of college president Hugh M. Gloster, with Louis W. Sullivan, M.D. as dean, the School of Medicine at Morehouse College began as a two-year program in the basic sciences. The first students were admitted in 1978 and transferred to other medical schools for the clinical years of their training.

Independent institution

The institution became independent from Morehouse College in 1981, with Sullivan as President, and was fully accredited to award M.D. degrees in 1985. Initially, third year clinical courses were taught by faculty from

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...

's School of Medicine, but since 1990, the school has taught them itself. In 1989, Sullivan was appointed

United States Secretary of Health and Human Services The United States secretary of health and human services is the head of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, and serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all health matters. The secretary is ...

by President George H.W. Bush. Sullivan served in that role for Bush's entire term, until 1993, when he returned to MSM to begin his second tenure as president. Sullivan remained president until 2002. He now holds the title of President Emeritus. Former US Surgeon General

David Satcher David Satcher, (born March 2, 1941) is an American physician, and public health administrator. He was a four-star admiral in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and served as the 10th Assistant Secretary for Health, and t ...

served as director of the National Center for

Primary Care Primary care is the day-to-day healthcare given by a health care provider. Typically this provider acts as the first contact and principal point of continuing care for patients within a healthcare system, and coordinates other specialist care ...

at the Morehouse School of Medicine. He continued in that role while also serving as MSM's president from 2004 to 2006. On February 28, 2006, Morehouse School of Medicine announced the appointment of John E. Maupin Jr., D.D.S. as the institution's next president. Maupin departed from his position of president at Meharry Medical College. Valerie Montgomery Rice, M.D. was named the sixth president of the school and the first woman to lead the free-standing medical institution in July 2014. In addition to president, she also retains the deanship. Montgomery Rice is a renowned infertility specialist and researcher, and most recently served as dean and executive vice president of MSM, where she served since 2011. In this role, she led MSM’s widespread academic and clinical programs in health sciences and led its strategic planning initiatives for patient care, research and community engagement. On February 3, 2009, Eric Holder, then-vice chairman of MSM's board of trustees, was confirmed as U.S. Attorney General. On July 13, 2009, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

nominated Morehouse School of Medicine Trustee Regina Benjamin as U.S. Surgeon General. Benjamin's nomination and subsequent confirmation marks the second time a MSM trustee held a high-profile position with the Obama administration. A 2010 study ranked MSM as the number one medical school in the country in the terms of social mission. The social mission score used in the study evaluated schools on percentage of graduates who practice primary care, work in health professional shortage areas, and are underrepresented minorities.Mullan F, Chen C, Petterson S, Kolsky G, Spagnola M. The social mission of medical education: ranking the schools. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2010 Jun 15;152(12):804-11. In 2017, it was announced MSM will complete a $50 million expansion by 2020. The expansion will include its first-ever student housing, an ambulatory health-care center, additional parking, and a retail component. In July 2020, MSM received a $40 million grant from the

United States Department of Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is ...

to help redress the alarming

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impact on African-Americans and other more vulnerable communities. In September 2020, MSM received $26.3 million from philanthropist

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to help lower debt for the medical students enrolled. In May 2022, MSM had a groundbreaking ceremony for a new $45 million academic facility. The 52,300-square foot building is scheduled to be complete in early 2024. The building is named after longtime MSM board member and state lawmaker

Calvin Smyre Calvin Smyre (born May 17, 1947) is an American politician who recently served as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives for the 135th district. Elected in 1974, he was the longest-serving member of the Georgia Legislature. In May 202 ...

Presidents

References

External links