Type | Private |
---|---|
Established | 1837 |
Endowment | US$389 Million |
Dean | Ranga Krishnan MB, ChB |
Academic staff
|
2,600 |
Students | 525 |
Location | Chicago, Illinois, USA |
Campus | Urban |
Website | www.rushu.rush.edu/medcol/ |
Rush Medical College is the medical school of Rush University, located in the Illinois Medical District, just 2 miles west of the Loop in Chicago. Offering a full-time Doctor of Medicine program, the school was chartered in 1837, and today is affiliated primarily with Rush University Medical Center, nearby John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County, and NorthShore University HealthSystem – Skokie Hospital (formerly known as Rush North Shore Medical Center). In 2017, Rush Medical College was ranked 59th among research institutions in the U.S. by U.S. News & World Report .
Rush Medical College was one of the first medical colleges in the state of Illinois and was chartered in 1837, two days before the city of Chicago was chartered, and opened with 22 students on December 4, 1843. Its founder, Dr. Daniel Brainard, named the school in honor of Dr. Benjamin Rush, the only physician with medical school training to be a signatory of the Declaration of Independence. He later taught Meriwether Lewis the basic medical skills for his expedition with William Clark to the Pacific Northwest. Dr. Rush was also known as the "Father of American Psychiatry."
During the early 1860s Rush Medical College staff members started discussions on establishing a dental department. On March 12, 1869 a charter was issued to found the Chicago Dental College, which was intended to be Chicago's first dental school. All attempts to put this charter in to operation, however, failed and an appeal was made to the Chicago Dental Society to become involved. As a result, on February 20, 1883 a charter was issued for the Chicago Dental Infirmary, which opened on March 12, 1883.