University of Mississippi Medical Center - Medic Yearbook (Jackson, MS)

Page 7 text:

CUNTENTS Introductlon Admlmstratlon ACllVlll6S Graduate Health Related M6dlClH6 NUPSlHg 0Pg3HlZ3tl0HS 86 212 ' 2 . . . 16 . . . 22 Dental 36 62 72 ' ' 94 ' 1

Page 6 text:

1 4 1 J Q Q 2 1 I ! I H' I 1 I

Page 8 text:

REFLECTIONS . . . The current academic session marks the University of Mississippi Medical Center's 25th year of service to the state. A silver anniversary is always a momentous occasion worth of recognition. For an institution like ours, it also prompts reflection on the past, our contributions-and the challenges we will face in the years ahead. 17 The opening of the Medical Center on ,Iuly 1, 1955, was a milestone in state medical and educational history. It was also the culmination of a dream, a dream shared by the educators, legislators, interested citizens and members of the professional community who had worked for more than a half a century for its creation. ' The institution's roots are in the two-year School of Medicine established on the Oxford campus in 1903. Seventy-seven years ago, 15 students began classes there in two small rooms in the old Lyceum building. The dream of a four-year medical school and teaching hospital for Mississippi began then, but it did not come to fruition until 1950 when the legislature appropriated monies to build the complex here in Jackson. The first four-year dean and Center director, Dr. David S. Pankratz, often said it was not an easy task getting an affirmative vote for the institution. Money as always was the problem. Mississippians wanted a medical school, but could the state afford it? Supporters of the four-year school, Dr. Pankratz said, countered with a different question and prevailed: Could Mississippi afford to do without one? Cround for the campus was broken in December, 1952, and three years later, the Medical Center opened. At its dedication in October, 1955, Governor Hugh L. White said a glorious chapter is beginning in the educational history of Mississippi. He called the fledgling complex the nucleus for an ambitious scheme of health improvement in this state. His vision has proved true. The School of Medicine and the graduate program enrolled their first 166 students in September, 1955. The next year, the nursing program moved down from the Oxford campus. Initially a de- partment offering the State's first baccalaureate nursing program, it achieved separate school status in 1958. The School of Health Related Professions was established in 1971 to help meet the state's need for more allied health professionsals, and the School of Dentistry, authorized by the state legislature in 1973, enrolled its first class in 1975. To keep pace with the expansion of educational programs, the complex has mushroomed from a 359 million facility to a S60 million physical plant with more than 35 acres under roof. The University Hospital, the learning laboratory for the 1617 students now enrolled in our educational programs, has grown from a 355- bed hospital to a 538-bed diagnostic, treatment, and referral center for the entire state. Our patient admissions generally total nearly 24,000 annually while another 154,000 Mississippians are seen in the outpatient clinics or in the emergency room. Service is one measure of an institution's stature. Certainly another is its contribution of new knowledge to medical science, and I believe the Medical Center has an enviable record in this regard. Insights gained here-on organ transplantations, the herpes viruses, environmental and industrial toxins, anti-viral com- pounds, preeclampsia, hypertension, and other cardiovascular diseases-have extended the i-nstitutionis influence far beyond the borders of its home state. These significant contributions in care and research during our 25-year history are only overshadowed by our prime mission in state higher education: to train health professionals for Mississippi. Since 1955, 4565 physicians, nurses, health related professionals, dentists and basic scientists have earned degrees or certifi- cates here. Almost every county in our state now has health professionals trained here caring for Mississippi- ans. It is they who give eloquent testimony to this institution and its 25-years of service. As we move firmly into a new decade and look toward a new century, we will continue to respond creatively to the identified needs of the people we serve. Our institutional mission will most likely remain a unique responsibility in Mississippi. But it is that uniqueness which binds us all together in the 'fambitious scheme to improve the health and well-being of the citizens of this state and our region.