Overview
History of Current Degree Programs
All Indiana Univerity School of Medicine Health Professions Programs were formerly part of the IU School of Allied Health Sciences. On July 1, 2002, eight programs were moved back to the IU School of Medicine as part of a restructuring of the new IU School of Health and Rehabiliation Sciences, which moved toward a graduate school model. One additional undergraduate program moved on January 1, 2004, to complete the restructuring of the undergraduate programs.
The former IU School of Allied Health Sciences was first established as a division in 1959 by action of the Trustees of Indiana University. In 1960, the trustees conferred upon the faculty of the IU School of Medicine the responsibility and authority to grant the Bachelor of Science degree to those students successfully completing the prescribed curriculum in four allied health programs that had been offered long before the establishment of the division. Since that time, additional degree programs were approved and initiated. In June 2003, the IU School of Allied Health Sciences was renamed the IU School of Health and Rehabiliation Sciences.
History of the IU School of Medicine
The Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) was founded in 1903, and its first students were enrolled on the Bloomington campus. It was the fourth medical school in the United States, after Johns Hopkins, Harvard, and Western Reserve, to require two or more years of collegiate work for admission. The school awarded the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree to its first class of 25 in 1907. Following the union in 1908 of all medical schools in the state within Indiana University, the General Assembly of the State of Indiana, mandated, in 1909, that Indiana University assume the responsibility for medical education in the state.
Initially, students had the opportunity to take the first two years of their medical school work in either Bloomington or Indianapolis. In 1912, all students entered through the Bloomington program and moved to Indianapolis for their second-, third-, and fourth-year courses. This system remained in effect until 1958, when the work of the Bloomington division was transferred to Indianapolis. Excellent facilities for the teaching of the basic medical sciences and a strong nucleus of basic science faculty members remained in Bloomington. Consequently, in 1959 an experimental program of medical education was started in Bloomington in cooperation with the College of Arts and Sciences and the Graduate School. This program, the Medical Sciences Program, included studies that could lead to the combined M.D./M.S. and M.D./Ph.D. degrees. In 1965, a School of Medicine faculty committee recommended the adoption of a comprehensive plan for medical education throughout the state of Indiana. The plan involved the use of regional facilities in addition to those of the Medical Center in Indianapolis. The plan would coordinate and utilize elective programs in community hospitals, preceptorships with practicing physicians, internship and residency programs, and continuing medical education programs throughout the state.
The plan also resulted in the formation, within existing educational institutions, of ‘‘centers for medical education’’ for teaching basic medical science courses to first-year medical students. In 1971 the General Assembly of the State of Indiana unanimously authorized legislation establishing the Indiana Statewide Medical Education System. This legislation mandated that the Indiana University School of Medicine be responsible for selection, admission, and assignment of students; for curricular development; and for evaluation and accreditation of the system. Further development of the Indiana Statewide Medical Education System was approved in the 1979 Indiana General Assembly. Approval for planning and funding for a second year of medical study at each of the centers for medical education was passed, and second-year students were first appointed to all centers except Fort Wayne in the fall 1980 semester. Funding for second-year students at the Fort Wayne campus began in fall 1990. The School of Medicine currently has eight centers for medical education, located in Bloomington, Evansville, Fort Wayne, Gary, Muncie, South Bend, Terre Haute, and West Lafayette.
Last Updated: March 22, 2010