Tulane University School of Medicine - T Wave Yearbook (New Orleans, LA)

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University Of Louisiana, Medical And Law Departments Tulane University School Of Medicine 1984

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THE HISTORY OF TULANE MEDICAL SCHOOL Tulane Medical School had its auspicious beginning as the Medical College of Louisiana in September 1834. Three brash young medical men. all less than 26 years of age, initiated the beginning of medical education in Louisiana. They were Thomas Hunt, who was to become the first dean of the medical school, Warren Stone and John Harrison. In addition to these three founders, the faculty of the school consisted of four other local physicians: Augustus Cenas, Charles Luzenberg, T. R. Ingalls and E. B. Smith. Establishment of the school was met with considerable opposition from the Creoles, whose ideas concerning medical education were based on the European system which stressed academics well grounded in the Latin and Greek classics. The idea of providing medical education without this foundation was utterly incomprehensible. Furthermore, the Creoles regarded all American universities with disdain and considered them hardly on a par with the European universities. When the medical school first opened its doors in January 1835, it became the first medical school in the Deep South and the fifteenth oldest in the country. The Inaugural address was given by Dean Hunt in the First Presbyterian Church. In addition to this church, various other borrowed quarters were used for lectures. A lecture room in the State House and wards in Charity Hospital also served as classrooms. These temporary facilities were the only ones available for use during the next several years, while the faculty attempted to secure the necessary funds for construction of a permanent structure to house the fledgling school. In 1836, the governor of the state attempted to help the medical faculty obtain funding for the erection of a school building. A measure appropriating $60,000 for this purpose was proposed and passed by the senate, but was defeated in the house. It was not until 1843 that any definitive action was taken. On March 22 of that year, a law was passed permitting the medical faculty to erect a building on a lot belonging to the state, on Common Street between Baronne and Dryades Streets. There were two conditions attached to the law: first, the faculty should donate their services to Charity Hospital without pay for ten years and second, that one student from e ach parish would be admitted annually to the medical school for the next ten years. The senator and representatives from each parish were to name each candidate. The state also reserved the right to reclaim all properties at the end of the ten year period. Thomas Hunt. Dean 1834 - 1835 1852 - 1862