Dartmouth's medical school was founded in 1797 as the fourth medical school in the United States, following the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (founded 1765), the medical school of King's College (now Columbia University) (1767), and Harvard Medical School (1782). The founder was Nathan Smith, a Harvard University and University of Edinburgh Medical School educated physician from Cornish, New Hampshire. Noting the dearth of medical professionals in the rural Connecticut River Upper Valley area, Smith petitioned the Board of Trustees of Dartmouth College in August 1796 to fund the establishment of a medical school to train more physicians for the region. Though Dartmouth College as a whole was financially strapped, the Board approved the request, and Smith began lecturing on November 22, 1797.