Case Western Reserve University School of 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.

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."

Cover of the Medical School catalog of 1868-69.

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."

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.

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.

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.[8] The campus houses students Case Western Reserve School of Medicine (CCLCM and traditional MD programs), 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.[9] 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.[10]

• 1980 - Paul Berg (1952 PhD in Biochemistry alumnus), Nobel Prize in Chemistry for pioneering research in recombinant DNA technology.[18]

Ferid Murad, 1998 Nobel Laureate and CaseMed MD-PhD alumnus.

• 1985 & 1997 - H. Jack Geiger (1958 MD alumnus), Though not a recipient of Nobel prize directly, he was the founding member and past president of Physicians for Human Rights[19][20] which shared the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize[21] 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 (1969 MD-PhD alumnus), Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for co-discovery of G Proteins[22]
• 1998 - Ferid Murad (1965 MD-PhD alumnus), Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for role in the discovery of nitric oxide in cardiovascular signaling [23]
• 2003 - Peter C. Agre (1978 Internal Medicine alumnus), 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.[24]

Case Alumni who received 2003 Nobel Prizes - Paul C. Lauterbur and Peter Agre (1st and 2nd from right) with President George Walker Bush

• 1923 - John J.R. Macleod (Professor of Physiology), Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, for discovery of Insulin[25]
• 1938 - Corneille J.F. Heymans, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for work on carotid sinus reflex [26]
• 1954 - Frederick C. Robbins (Dean of CaseMed), 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.[27]
• 1971 - Earl W. Sutherland (Chair of Pharmacology), Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, for establishing identity and importance of cyclic adenosine monophosphate or cyclic AMP in regulation of cell metabolism.[22] 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.[28]

• Sidney Katz (1948 MD alumnus) - Pioneering American physician, scientist, educator, author, and public servant. Most noted for creating the first Activities of Daily Living (ADL) Scale
• Jesse Leonard Steinfeld (1949 MD alumnus) - U.S. Surgeon General (1969 to 1973), most noted for achieving widespread fluoridation of water, requiring prescription drugs to be effective, and strengthening the Surgeon General's Warning on cigarettes.[29]
• David Satcher (1970 MD-PhD alumnus) - U.S. Surgeon General under President Bill Clinton, and first African-American director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [30]
• Julie L. Gerberding (1981 MD alumnus) - first woman director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [31]
• Michael Ehlert (2007 MD alumnus) - 2007-08 National President of the American Medical Student Association.[32]
• John Brockman (2012 MD alumnus) - 2010-11 National President of the American Medical Student Association.[33]

• 1912 - Professor Roger Perkins pioneered the process of chlorinating drinking water.[34]
• 1915 - Henry Gerstenberger (alumnus and pediatrics professor) 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 (Surgery residency alumnus; 1924-1971 Professor of Cardiovascular Surgery - first such position in US)[35] -
  • Performed first surgical treatment of coronary artery disease (1935)[36]
  • Performed first defibrillation using machine he built with James Rand (1947)[37]
  • Developed concept of Beck's Triad
  • Started the first CPR teaching course for medical professionals (1950).
• 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 (Chair of Genetics) create world's first artificial human chromosome.
• M. Scott Peck (1963 MD alumnus) - 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 (1977 MD alumnus) leads the cardiac surgery team which performs President Bill Clinton's coronary artery bypass surgery.[38]
• Richard Walsh, MD (Chair of Medicine, Case Medical Center) - Current editor of Hurst's The Heart Manual of Cardiology.[39]
• Peter Tippett (1983 MD-PhD alumnus) - Inventor of early anti-virus software.[40][41]
• Alfredo Palacio (Internal Medicine alumnus) - President of Ecuador (2005–2007).
• David Jenkins- won the men's gold medal for figure skating during the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California[42]
• Renee Salas – emergency medicine physician known for her work on climate change

Small group learning is a central part of the Case curriculum. As part of the school's Western Reserve2 (WR2) curriculum, small group Case Inquiry (IQ) 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 (as medical students and medical residents).

In 1896, the first affiliation agreement was approved between Western Reserve University and University Hospitals of Cleveland[46]

• University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center
• Cleveland Clinic
• MetroHealth Medical Center
• Louis Stokes Cleveland Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center

• St. Vincent Charity Hospital
• The Free Medical Clinic of Greater Cleveland

The Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine (CCLCM) is an educational program affiliated with the School of Medicine in conjunction with and administered by the Cleveland Clinic. The program is five years, including a dedicated year for research. The Cleveland Clinic established the school in 2002 with a $100 million gift from Norma and Al Lerner,[47] and CCLCM accepted its first class of students in 2004.[48] Physician researcher Eric Topol played an important role in securing the donation from the Lerner family.[49] Topol served as Provost and Chief Academic Officer at CCLCM until 2006, when his position was eliminated amid controversy regarding his criticism of Vioxx and disagreements with other Cleveland Clinic leaders, including then-CEO Toby Cosgrove.[50]

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.[48] 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.[51] The Cleveland Clinic, rather than CWRU, is responsible for all financial aspects of the school.[48] 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.[48]

Allen Memorial Medical Library

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.[52] The societies are:[52]

• Frederick C. Robbins Society
• Emily Blackwell-Elizabeth McKinley Society
• David Satcher Society
• Joseph Wearn Society
• H. Jack Geiger Society

Every year, the five societies compete in "ISC Picnic" for the infamous Society Cup in a series of events (e.g. soccer, flag football, relay races etc.) to test physical talents of the students in each society.

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.