Stanford University School of Medicine

Established	1908
Type	Private
Parent institution	Stanford University
Dean	Lloyd B. Minor
Academic staff	801
Students	3,498
Postgraduates	1,158
Location	Stanford, CA, USA
Campus	Suburban
Website	http://med.stanford.edu

Stanford University School of Medicine is the medical school of Stanford University. It is located at Stanford University Medical Center in Stanford, California. It is the successor to the Medical Department of the University of the Pacific, founded in San Francisco in 1858 and later named Cooper Medical College; the medical school was acquired by Stanford in 1908. Due to this descent, it ranks as the oldest medical school in the Western United States. The medical school moved to the Stanford campus near Palo Alto, California in 1959.

Clinical rotations occur at several hospital sites. In addition to the Stanford University Medical Center (Stanford Hospital and Clinics) and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Stanford has formal affiliations with Kaiser Permanente, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and the VA Palo Alto Health Care System. Stanford medical students also manage two free clinics: Arbor Free Clinic in Menlo Park and Pacific Free Clinic in San Jose. Stanford is a cutting-edge center for translational and biomedical research (both basic science and clinical) and emphasizes medical innovation, novel methods, discoveries, and interventions in its integrated curriculum.

The School of Medicine also has a Physician Assistant (PA) program that was added in 1971, called the Primary Care Associate Program. It was one of the first accredited physician assistant programs in California. It is offered in association with Foothill College. The program has graduated more than 1,300 physician assistants since its opening. Most graduates fulfill the program's mission of serving underserved medical communities.^[1]

Mission[edit]

Li Ka Shing Center for Learning and Knowledge.

The School of Medicine's mission is to be a premier research-intensive medical school that improves health through leadership, diversity, collaborative discoveries and innovations in patient care, education and research.

Rankings and admissions[edit]

In the 2014 U.S. News & World Report rankings, Stanford was ranked 2nd in the nation for research, behind Harvard Medical School.^[2] Admissions to Stanford is highly competitive. The acceptance rate is the second lowest in the country at 2.2% (the Mayo Medical School is lower, with an acceptance rate of 1.9%).^[3] In 2008, 6,567 people applied and 463 were interviewed for 86 spots. Matriculants had an average GPA of 3.76 and median MCAT score of 35. Additionally, Stanford University Medical Center (the medical school's major teaching affiliate) is ranked 17th out of 4,825 hospitals evaluated, making it the second highest ranked hospital in the San Francisco Bay Area, according to U.S. News' Best Hospitals 2011-2012.

Stanford is one of several schools in the states to use the multiple mini interview system, developed at McMaster University Medical School in Canada, to evaluate candidates.^[4] The MMI system exposes candidates to multiple interviewers in a short amount of time and has been shown to better predict medical school performance than traditional panel interviews.

Along with the School of Humanities and Science, the Stanford School of Medicine also runs the Biosciences Ph.D. Program which was ranked 1st in 2009 among graduate programs in the Biological Sciences by the US News and World Report;^[5] for the incoming class in 2009, the program had an 11% acceptance rate.^[6] In specialties, according to U.S. News for 2011, Stanford is #1 in genetics, genomics, and bioinformatics; #2 in biochemistry, biophysics, and structural biology, immunology, cell biology, molecular biology and neuroscience, #3 in infectious disease, and microbiology.

History[edit]

In 1855, Illinois physician Elias Samuel Cooper moved to San Francisco in the wake of the California Gold Rush. In cooperation with the University of the Pacific (also known as California Wesleyan College), Cooper established the Medical Department of the University of the Pacific, the first medical school on the West Coast, in 1858, on Mission Street near 3rd Street in San Francisco. The school underwent many changes until Cooper's nephew, Levi Cooper Lane, established a new campus at the intersection of Webster and Sacramento Streets in 1882; at that time, the school was christened Cooper Medical College.^[7] Lane also built a hospital and a nursing school (forerunner of the Stanford School of Nursing) and made provision for the creation of Lane Medical Library.^[8]

In 1908, Stanford University adopted the Cooper Medical College as its affiliated medical institution, called the Stanford Medical Department and later the Stanford University School of Medicine. The school expanded and built up a reputation for excellence and providing cutting edge clinical care. In the 1950s, the Stanford Board of Trustees decided to move the school to the Stanford main campus near Palo Alto. The move was completed in 1959.

In the 1980s the Medical Center launched a major expansion program. A new hospital was added in 1989 with 20 new operating rooms, state of the art intensive care and inpatient units, and other technological additions. The Beckman Center for Molecular and Genetic Medicine opened in May 1989 as an interdisciplinary center focusing on the molecular and genetic basis of disease.^[9] The Lucile Packard Children's Hospital was completed in 1991, adding even more diversity to Stanford Medicine.

The recently completed Clark Center (Bio-X Program) houses interdisciplinary research endeavors and serves to reinforce Stanford's commitment to providing the best possible patient care through innovation. The focus of the program is to combine bioengineering, chemical engineering, physics, and entrepreneurship with medical research and clinical education to pioneer the future of medicine through translating discoveries.

In the early years of the 21st century Stanford School of Medicine underwent rapid construction to further expand teaching and clinical opportunities. The Li Ka Shing Center for Learning and Knowledge opened in 2010; it serves as the gateway to the School of Medicine as well as providing a new model of medical education by combining biomedical research with clinical education and information technology. The Lorry I. Lokey Stem Cell Research Building also opened in 2010; it is the largest stem cell and regenerative medicine facility in North America.^[10] The Stem Cell Research Building is the first of the planned Stanford Institutes of Medicine. In addition to research facilities it houses offices for faculty from the Stanford Cancer Center and "hotel space" offices for visiting researchers.^[10] Furthermore, the Stanford University Medical Center is undergoing a renewal and expansion project which will rebuild Stanford Hospital & Clinics and the Emergency Department, modernize and expand Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, renovate the School of Medicine facilities to accommodate modern technology, and renovate Hoover Pavilion, the original Palo Alto Hospital, to accommodate community physicians.

Curriculum[edit]

A new medical school curriculum was implemented in fall 2003.^[why?] Classroom lectures were reduced from 30 hrs/week to 12-22 hrs/week, and there are no classes on Wednesdays. For the first two years, the grading scheme is completely pass/fail, and there is no Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) or other forms of an honor system as to encourage cooperation among students. In the clinical years, evaluation will be through a criterion-based system and just like the first two years using a pass/fail evaluation scheme. Each student can choose from one of twelve scholarly concentrations/majors.

Notable research/achievements[edit]

• 1956 - First use in Western hemisphere of linear accelerator to treat cancer
• 1960 - First kidney transplant in California
• 1964 - Demonstration of electrical stimulation of auditory nerve in deaf patients, paving the way for cochlear implants
• 1968 - First adult human heart transplant in the United States
• 1970 - Leonard Herzenberg develops the fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS) which revolutionizes the study of cancer cells and will be essential for purification of adult stem cells
• 1974 - Isolation of genome of a virus that causes hepatitis B and a common form of liver cancer
• 1979 - Discovery of dynorphin, a brain chemical 200 times more powerful than morphine
• 1981 - First successful human combined heart/lung transplant in the world (fourth attempted worldwide)
• 1984 - Isolation of a gene coding for part of the T-cell receptor, a key to the immune system’s function
• 1988 - Isolation of pure hematopoietic stem cells from mice
• 1993 - First clinical trial testing methods for preventing eating disorders in adolescents
• 1996 - Discovery that the p53 protein, known to be involved in controlling cancerous tumors, works as an “emergency brake” on cancer development
• 2000 - Solution of the structure of the RNA polymerase protein, a pivotal molecule that copies genes from DNA to RNA
• 2005 - Discovery of obestatin, a hormone that suppresses appetite
• 2007 - Application and expansion of optogenetics, a technique to control brain cell activity with light
• 2009 - Discovery of a "don't-eat-me" signal that allows blood cancer stem cells to migrate safely through the body
• 2010 - For the first time, researchers use a healthy person's complete genome sequence to predict his risk for dozens of diseases
• 2013 - Karl Deisseroth's development of the CLARITY technique for rendering intact tissues transparent

Notable alumni[edit]

• Lori Arviso Alvord - First board-certified female Diné surgeon, author of The Scalpel and the Silver Bear and 2013 nominee for U.S. Surgeon General
• John Baldwin - Former Dean of Dartmouth Medical School
• Cheri Blauwet- professional cyclist, winner of Boston Marathon
• William Brody - President of the Salk Institute and former President of The Johns Hopkins University
• David D. Burns - Psychiatrist and author
• Amy Chow - Olympic gold medalist.
• Henry F. Epstein—Cecil and Ida Green Distinguished Professor of Neuroscience, University of Texas Medical Branch
• David A. Wood - President of the American Cancer Society, first director of the UCSF Cancer Research Institute
• William Frist- Cardiothoracic Surgery Fellow; United States Senator, former presidential candidate
• Randall B. Griepp - cardiothoracic surgeon who collaborated with Norman Shumway in the development of the first successful heart transplant procedures in the U.S.^[11]
• Milt McColl - Former NFL linebacker
• John C. Handy - Physician and surgeon in Tucson, Arizona (graduate of Medical College of the Pacific)
• James Mongan - CEO of Partners HealthCare (MGH and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School)
• Scott Parazynski - NASA Astronaut, veteran of 5 Space Shuttle missions
• Joshua Prager - pain medicine specialist and neuromodulator
• Belding Scribner - Professor, University of Washington, inventor of the Scribner Shunt
• Irving Weissman - Leading Stem Cell Biologist. Founder of Systemix and Stem Cells Inc.
• Augustus White - Surgeon-in-Chief at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
• Ray Lyman Wilbur - President of American Medical Association, President of Stanford (1916–1943), personal physician of President Harding
• Val Murray Runge - John Sealy Distinguished Chair and Professor of Radiology University of Texas Medical Branch

Notable faculty[edit]

• John R. Adler - Professor of Neurosurgery. Inventor of CyberKnife.
• Ben Barres - Professor of Neurobiology. Renowned for research on sex and intelligence.
• George W. Beadle - Professor of Biology. Winner of the 1958 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
• Paul Berg - Biochemist. Winner of the 1980 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovery of recombinant-DNA.
• Eugene C. Butcher - Professor of Pathology. Winner of the 2004 Crafoord Prize.
• Gilbert Chu - Professor of Biochemistry and Medicine.
• Stanley Norman Cohen - Professor of Genetics and of Medicine, who accomplished the first transplantation of genes between cells. Winner of the National Medal of Science, National Medal of Technology, inducted into National Inventors Hall of Fame.
• Frances K. Conley - Famed female neurosurgeon best known for advancing women in American medicine.
• Karl Deisseroth - Professor of Bioengineering and of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Pioneer of optogenetics
• William C. Dement - Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, pioneer in sleep research.
• Andrew Z. Fire - Winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
• Thomas J. Fogarty - Clinical Professor of Surgery. Member of National Inventors Hall of Fame. Owner of more than 100 surgical patents, including the Fogarty balloon catheter.
• Philip Hanawalt - Hertzstein Professor of Biology and Dermatology, discovered transcription coupled repair of DNA.
• Griffith R. Harsh - Vice Chair of the Stanford Department of Neurosurgery and the Director of the Stanford Brain Tumor Center. He is also the spouse of Meg Whitman.
• Leonard Herzenberg - Winner of the Kyoto Prize for development of fluorescent-activated cell sorting.
• Emile Holman - First Chair of General Surgery at Stanford. Rhodes scholar and considered to be "last" pupil of William Halsted.
• Henry S. Kaplan - Pioneer in radiation therapy for cancer. Inventor of the first linear accelerator in the Western hemisphere.
• Brian Kobilka - Professor of Molecular and Cellular physiology. Winner of the 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
• Arthur Kornberg - Winner of the 1959 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (with Severo Ochoa) for their discovery of the mechanisms of the biological synthesis of ribonucleic acid and deoxyribonucleic acid.
• Roger Kornberg - Winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Son of Arthur Kornberg. Discoverer of nucleosome and transcriptional mediator. Member of National Academy of Sciences.
• Michael Levitt - Winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
• Joshua Lederberg - Founder of the Stanford department of genetics, co-recipient of 1958 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
• Donald Laub - Founder of Interplast, Inc.
• Kate Lorig - Director of the Stanford Patient Education Research Center.
• Norman Shumway - Heart transplant pioneer. Performed first heart transplant in the United States.
• Bruce Reitz - Performed first combined adult human heart-lung transplant.
• Robert Sapolsky - Famous neuroscientist and Professor of Neurology, most noted for his studies on stress
• Lucy Shapiro - Professor of Developmental Biology. Winner of the National Medal of Science in biological sciences.
• Vaughn Starnes - Performed first living double-lobar lung transplant.
• Stephen Quake - Professor and co-chair of Bioengineering. Founder of Fluidigm Corp, Helicos Biosciences. Inventor of non-invasive prenatal diagnostics by sequencing. Winner of Lemelson-MIT Prize.
• Lubert Stryer - National Medal of Science recipient, Winzer Professor of Neurobiology, and author of Biochemistry Textbook
• Thomas Südhof - Winner of 2013 Nobel Prize in Medicine
• Edward L. Tatum - Co-winner of 1958 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
• Irving Weissman - Leading stem cell biologist and director of the Stanford Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine. Founder of Systemix and Stem Cells Inc.
• Paul Yock - Inventor of the rapid exchange system for endovascular procedures.
• Lucy S. Tompkins - Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.

References in popular culture[edit]

• Dr. Cristina Yang, a character on the popular medical television drama Grey's Anatomy is a Stanford alumna and 'graduated first in her class', despite Stanford's medical school not actually having grades or rankings
• Nick Rubashkin- Stanford Alum and Co-Editor of What I Learned in Medical School-personal stories of young doctors
• Bob Kelso, Chief of Medicine on the NBC comedy Scrubs graduated '12th in his class' at Stanford.
• At the end of Good Will Hunting, the character Skylar leaves Boston to enter medical school at Stanford.

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Stanford School of Medicine Official Website
• Facts & Figures
• Stanford School of Medicine History
• Stanford Biosciences PhD Programs
• Stanford MD Program