case western reserve university school of medicine case western reserve university school of medicine case western reserve school of medicine (cwru som, casemed) is the medical school of case western reserve university, a private research university in cleveland, ohio. it is the largest biomedical research center in ohio. case western reserve universityschool of medicinetypeprivate medical schoolestablished1843 (1843)parent institutioncase western reserve universitydeanstanton l. gerson, mdacademic staff11,049students1,206locationcleveland, ohio, united stateswebsitecase.edu/medicine history on november 1, 1843, under president george edmond pierce, five faculty members including jared potter kirtland and john delamater, and sixty-seven students began the first medical lectures at the medical department of western reserve college (also known as the cleveland medical college) in hudson, ohio. kirtland and delamater had previously been instructors at a medical college started in 1834, the medical department of willoughby university of lake erie, which had closed in 1843 due to faculty disagreements. other faculty from that medical department went on to found willoughby medical college of columbus, a precursor to the ohio state university college of medicine. medical department of western reserve college 1843-1885 located at e. 9th and st. clair. emily blackwell – 1854 md alumna. casemed graduated six of the first seven women to receive u.s. medical degrees. women in medicine in 1852, the medical school became the second in the u.s. to graduate a woman, nancy talbot clark. 1854 md alumna, emily blackwell became the third woman in the us to receive a regular medical degree. six of the first seven women in the united states to receive medical degrees from recognized allopathic medical schools graduated from western reserve university between 1850 and 1856, which included marie zakrzewska. flexner report in 1909, abraham flexner surveyed and evaluated each of the 155 medical schools then extant in north america, with his results published the following year in what came to be known as the flexner report. the results proved shocking: most "medical schools," for example, had entrance requirements no more stringent than either high school diploma or "rudiments or the recollection of a common school education." cover of the medical school catalog of 1868–69. only sixteen schools required at least two years of college as an entrance requirement, and of these, johns hopkins, harvard, and western reserve were the only schools to require an undergraduate degree. although johns hopkins represented his ideal, flexner also singled out the medical department of western reserve university for its praiseworthy admission standards and facilities. flexner referred to western reserve as "already one of the substantial schools in the country." in a letter to western reserve president charles franklin thwing he said, "the medical department of western reserve university is, next to johns hopkins..., the best in the country." western reserve curriculum a little over 40 years later, in 1952, the western reserve university school of medicine revolutionized medical education with the "new curriculum of 1952" and more advanced stages in 1968. this was the most progressive medical curriculum in the country at that time, integrating the basic and clinical sciences. l. o. krampitz chaired the subcommittee which implemented the curriculum reform. research history development of the modern technique for human blood transfusion using a cannula to connect blood vessels; first large-scale medical research project on humans in a study linking iodine with goiter prevention; pioneering use of drinking water chlorination; discovery of the cause of ptomaine food poisoning and development of serum against it and similar poisons; first surgical treatments of coronary artery disease; discovery of early treatment of strep throat infections to prevent rheumatic fever; development of an early heart-lung machine to be used during open-heart surgery procedures; discovery of the hageman factor in blood clotting, a major discovery in blood coagulation research; first description of how staphylococcus infections are transmitted, leading to required hand-washing between patients in infant nurseries; first description of what was later named reye's syndrome; research leading to fda approval of clozapine, the most advanced treatment for schizophrenia in 40 years at the time; discovery of the gene for osteoarthritis; and creation with athersys, inc., of the world's first human artificial chromosome. health education campus main article: health education campus in 2019, the school of medicine relocated to the samson pavilion health education campus on the campus of the cleveland clinic, a $515 million building project, amid a multi-million dollar joint fundraising campaign between cwru and the cleveland clinic. the campus houses students case western reserve school of medicine (cclcm and traditional md programs), frances payne bolton school of nursing and case school of dental medicine, all of which—with the exception of cclcm—had previously held classes on the campus of cwru and university hospitals cleveland medical center. the move, announced in 2013, was a major contributing factor for university hospitals to shift its name from university hospitals case medical center to university hospitals cleveland medical center in 2016, as well as renegotiate its affiliation agreement with cwru that same year. academics prospective students have the option of three degree paths leading to a medical degree at the school of medicine: the university program, the college program, or the medical scientist training program. university program the university program is a traditional four-year doctor of medicine program designed to train well-rounded physicians in a curriculum called the western reserve2 (wr2) which is built on four cornerstones of clinical mastery, research and scholarship, leadership, and civic professionalism to prepare students for the ongoing practice of evidence-based medicine in the rapidly changing healthcare environment of the 21st century. the goal of this program is to challenge students so that they affect positive change through treating disease, promoting health, and understanding the social and behavioral context of illness. the four-year curriculum unites the disciplines of medicine and public health into a single, integrated program that trains future physicians to consider the interplay between the biology of disease and the social and behavioral context of illness, between the care of the individual patient and the health of the public, and between clinical medicine and population medicine. the university program seeks to create physician-scholars who are leaders in science, practice and health care policy. students learn primarily through small group discussions, large group experiences, lectures, interactive anatomy sessions, clinical skills training and patient-based activities. the learning process is supplemented by a rich array of digital resources, including virtual microscopy, ultrasound, and microsoft hololens - holoanatomy. the environment encourages scientific inquiry and self-directed learning. students are immersed in a graduate-school atmosphere characterized by flexibility, independent study and collegial interaction with faculty. students complete in-depth, mentored research experiences based on their individual interests, with the goal of understanding the scientific process so that they may critically read and analyze scientific literature and know how to formulate hypotheses. these lifelong learning skills are essential in both clinical and research-oriented practices. all students also receive mentoring and individualized career counseling as members of one of six academic student affairs societies. the principles of health and population medicine are firmly embedded within the university program curriculum from the moment students begin their training at cwru in an introductory five-week block called, "becoming a doctor." in typical programs, students begin their medical education by studying basic science at the molecular level, not fully aware of the relevance that this knowledge will have in their future education or how it relates to the actual practice of medicine. the university program begins differently, however, with an introduction to health and disease within the broader context of society. this introduction provides both a perspective and a framework for subsequent learning of biomedical and population sciences. one of the hallmarks of the university program in the first two years of wr2 is case inquiry (iq). case inquiry (iq) is a student-centered, small group learning method that is adapted from the “new” problem based learning (pbl) approach introduced at mcmaster university school of medicine in 2005. iq is the cornerstone of learning in the wr2 curriculum. eight students are joined with one faculty facilitator which comprises an "iq team" that meets three times a week to approach two patient cases that naturally evoke inquiry and motivation for learning. students develop their own learning objectives for each of two cases on mondays and then return on wednesdays and fridays to discuss the reading, research and learning that they have accomplished relating to their objectives for each case. resources and supplemental resources are provided to compliment the learning for each case. wednesday and friday iq sessions are highly discussion based where students collaborate to understand key concepts and build knowledge. as with other components of the wr2 curriculum, the iq process promotes deep concept learning. unlike many forms of more traditional pbl, all students within the iq team are responsible for researching all student-generated learning objectives. this assures that all students take primary responsibility for their own learning and are prepared to discuss all objectives. each iq session ends with a phase called "checkout" that allows for the continuous quality improvement of the team function and provides regular opportunity for self-reflection and peer feedback. throughout their experience in iq, students develop skills of teamwork, professionalism, critical thinking and effective utilization of resources (evidence-based iq), including primary literature. a number of exercises are developmentally introduced to the iq teams over the course of the first two years of wr2, the foundations of medicine and health, with the goals of promoting reflection, practice in presenting patients, development of clinical reasoning and interprofessional education. the cleveland clinic lerner college of medicine the cleveland clinic lerner college of medicine (cclcm) is an educational program within the cwru school of medicine administered in conjunction with cleveland clinic. the program is five years, including a dedicated year for research. the cleveland clinic established the school in 2002 with a $100 million gift from norma and al lerner, and cclcm accepted its first class of students in 2004. physician researcher eric topol played an important role in securing the donation from the lerner family. topol served as provost and chief academic officer at cclcm until 2006, when his position was eliminated amid controversy regarding his criticism of vioxx and disagreements with other cleveland clinic leaders, including then-ceo toby cosgrove. the class size each year is 32 students, and the curriculum is notable for its lack of class rank, pre-clinical or clinical grading, or end-of-course examinations. in 2008, cleveland clinic announced that all students entering the program would receive full-tuition scholarships, representing the first medical school program in the united states not to charge students tuition. the cleveland clinic, rather than cwru, is responsible for all financial aspects of the school. administration of the school, including deans, administrative staff, and admissions, is separate from the school of medicine, which provides oversight over academic affairs at cclcm. the lerner college of medicine program is one of three distinct medical school programs, specifically called the college program, within the cwru school of medicine. college program students are awarded a special degree by case western reserve university: medical doctor with special qualifications in biomedical research. as of summer 2019, students from both cclcm and the cwru school of medicine university program, along with cwru nursing, dental medicine and physician assistant students, share the same learning environment. called the health education campus, located across from cleveland clinic's main entrance, this state-of-the-future space was designed specifically to allow these groups of training medical professionals to learn with—and from—each other. cclcm students have access to all the resources available to other cwru medical students, including shared social events start at orientation, participation in doc opera, special interest groups, panels, and other activities. students from the three programs - university program, college program, and mstp - are together for events such as the white coat ceremony, match day and commencement. students also interact in their required clinical rotations at area hospitals and healthcare facilities. medical scientist training program the medical scientist training program awards md and phd degrees upon graduation. case western reserve university school of medicine was the first medical school to offer the dual degree md-phd program to its students in 1956, nearly a decade before the national institutes of health developed the first medical scientist training program. in 2002, the school of medicine became the third institution in history to receive the highest review possible from the body that grants accreditation to u.s.