The Bid for a University Medical School
Regents move to expand the University of Washington, envisioning a medical college that could serve the entire Northwest.
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At yesterday's meeting, University of Washington regents adopted a report advocating for the establishment of a medical college. Regent Mitten argued that the state law mandates a broad curriculum, including medicine, and that Seattle’s growth as a gateway to the Orient makes it an ideal medical center. The committee suggests that the medical college should be located within the city of Seattle to ensure students have access to hospital clinical environments, rather than on the university grounds. They plan to invite physicians from Seattle, Tacoma, and Olympia to consult on the formation of a faculty. Additionally, the regents elected James A. Johnson as superintendent for the construction of the new university building, which is slated to be marked by a Masonic corner-stone laying ceremony on the Fourth of July.
“Without clinical advantages a medical college is that in name only.”
This 1895 debate regarding the location and purpose of a University of Washington medical school marks the foundational era of the institution that eventually became the region's powerhouse for medical research and public health.
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