Evolution of Medical School
Policies
When the founding faculty of the CMC disbanded in the late 1850s, the doors of the medical school were once again closed to women medical students. A new, younger administration did not favor creating a policy which permitted the admission of women, especially in light of the dwindling enrollment of young men as the Civil War broke out. This emerging instability among the founding faculty, after thirteen years together, led to the decision to discontinue the admission of women students to the CMC. During the entire decade of the 1860s, no women graduated from regular co-educational medical schools anywhere in the country. However, those desiring to pursue such a career were now able to attend the Women’s Medical of Pennsylvania or the New York Infirmary School for Women directed by Dr. Blackwell, ’54 and obtain clinical training in Boston at the New England Hospital overseen by Dr. Zakrzewska.
The policy to accept women as students in medical schools, including the Medical Department of Western Reserve College, can be seen as a consequence of America’s involvement in major military conflicts. Just as the necessity for womens’ contribution was recognized during the Civil War, World War I created a situation in which it appeared that a shortage of physicians might occur and women would be needed to fill those roles. The Trustees of Western Reserve University voted in 1919 to admit women to the medical school on a equal basis with men. Completing what was now a four-year program, three women received medical degrees from WRU in 1923.
The current freshman class of 2005 at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine is composed of 170 students, approximately 50 percent of which are women. With a long and rich tradition of renown for innovation in medical education, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine today remains in the forefront of recognizing the significance of the contribution of women to medicine and the biological sciences.
The class entering the School of Medicine in 2005 poses for a group photograph with the dean and associate deans of the school at the White Coat Ceremony, held Aug. 14 at Severance Hall. The class includes students who will do their M.D. studies at the School of Medicine and at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University, and those in the university’s dual M.D./Ph.D. program called the Medical Scientist Training Program. (Photo by Mike Sands, Case Western Reserve University)
