Harvard Medical School - History

History

The school is the third-oldest medical school in the United States (after Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons) and was founded by John Warren on September 19, 1782, with Benjamin Waterhouse, and Aaron Dexter. The first lectures were given in the basement of Harvard Hall and then in Holden Chapel. The first class, composed of two students, graduated in 1788.

It moved from Cambridge to 49 Marlborough Street in Boston in 1810. From 1816 to 1846, the school, known as Massachusetts Medical College of Harvard University, was located on Mason Street. In 1847 the school relocated to North Grove Street, and then to Copley Square in 1883. The medical school moved to its current location on Longwood Avenue in 1906, where the "Great White Quadrangle" or HMS Quad with its five white marble buildings was established. The architect for the campus was the Boston firm of Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge.

The three major flagship teaching hospitals of Harvard Medical School are Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital.