Founding in Bloomington

In March 1903, William Lowe Bryan, the tenth president of IU, proposed the formation of a department of medicine at IU Bloomington to the university trustees. The new department was approved and established in May of the same year. The IU School of Medicine was admitted as a member of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) in 1904.

William Lowe Bryan, c.1898

In addition to IUSM in Bloomington, IU's leaders wanted to locate medical training facilities in Indianapolis. Their initial plan was to provide medical students with the first two years of coursework at Bloomington and the final two years at Indianapolis, where students would receive clinically based training as part of their studies.^[14] Prior to 1908, due primarily to the high cost of establishing its own medical facilities in Indianapolis, IU attempted to merge with existing medical schools, but the effort was unsuccessful.^[15]

Earlier schools

The current school in Indianapolis is a mixture of several earlier medical colleges. In 1869, the Indiana Medical College opened in Indianapolis as an outgrowth of the Indianapolis Academy of Medicine.^[16] This institution would associate with IU in 1871; the partnership ended in 1876 when IU failed to receive state funding for medical instruction.^[17][18] The MD program at Indiana Medical College was not particularly rigorous, and one could graduate after 5 months of study.^[19]

In 1874, the College of Physicians and Surgeons opened in Indianapolis as a breakaway school from the Indiana Medical College following a dispute over admissions policies; the schools reunited as the Medical College of Indiana (MCI) and associated with Butler University in 1878.^[16][20] Two more medical schools opened in 1879: the Indianapolis-based Central College of Physicians and Surgeons (CCPS) and the Fort Wayne College of Medicine. In 1896, the MCI, Butler, and the Indiana Law School formed a loose collection of colleges named the University of Indianapolis (U of I),^[21] an unrelated institution to the modern university of the same name. The Indiana Dental College joined U of I in 1904. Plans existed to create a central campus and expand the number of component colleges but they never materialized, and thus U of I remained an amorphous entity. Its component colleges gradually joined with IU over time with the exception of Butler, which remains independent to this day.^[21]

After IUSM was founded in 1903, formal negotiations opened between IU and the MCI for the MCI to leave U of I and join with IU; however, due to fundamental disagreements on where the resulting school of medicine would be located (the MCI wished it to remain in Indianapolis while IU wanted to move it to Bloomington), the proposal was not ratified, and by 1904 the matter was indefinitely abandoned.^[3]

Rivalry with Purdue University

While negotiations were ongoing between IU and the Medical College of Indiana, representatives from the Central College of Physicians and Surgeons approached Purdue University's medical department in West Lafayette, which was established sometime prior to 1895, to arrange a similar union.^[3] The Purdue trustees declined the offer, not wanting to interfere with the concurrent negotiations between IU and the MCI.^[3] In May 1905 the MCI submitted the same proposal ("...to give its property and assets of an appraised value of $100,000 to the University, and to accompany the gift by its good will and the gratuitous services of its faculty; the motive being to permanently establish a medical college of high order in connection with an educational institution of good standing.") that had failed ratification with IU to Purdue's trustees.^[3] The trustees took the proposal into consideration, and were "convinced that the conditions were unusually favorable to the consummation of a union of interests where all previous efforts had failed, and to the inauguration of a progressive educational movement of great value to the State." By September the proposal was accepted subject to the approval of the state legislature, and the MCI became part of Purdue University with the full title of "the Indiana Medical College, the School of Medicine of Purdue University."

The Indiana Medical College, the School of Medicine of Purdue University, 1906.

On September 25, 1905, the trustees of the CCPS voted to suspend operations and to transfer the students, alumni, personal property, and funds of the college to the Purdue School of Medicine. Later on October 2, the Fort Wayne College of Medicine voted to likewise merge with the Purdue School of Medicine and transfer personnel and equipment to Indianapolis.^[3] The Purdue School of Medicine operated out of the former MCI's facilities on Senate Avenue in Indianapolis. The building that housed the CCPS at 212 North Senate Avenue was sold.^[22] In May 1906, 122 students received medical degrees from Purdue University and successfully passed the examination of the State Board of Medical Registration. In the spring of 1907, Purdue graduated 68 men and four women; in that class was Arett C. Arnett, a physician who helped establish a Lafayette clinic in 1922 later known as Arnett Clinic and today known as Indiana University Health Arnett Hospital.

The founding of Purdue's medical school triggered a debate over which state university, IU or Purdue, had the legal authority to establish a state-supported, four-year medical school in Indianapolis. IU believed that under the legislative act that elevated Indiana College to a university on February 15, 1838, it had the authorization alone to provide state-supported instruction in medicine; but, the development of a medical school was delayed due to a lack of sufficient funding.^[23] A legal opinion published by a W.H.H. Miller on October 31, 1905, stated that the university did not have clear authority to conduct a medical program outside Monroe County, as that legislative act only mentioned medical education "on the grounds of the university."^[24] The rivalry was so intense that it is sometimes labeled as the instigating factor for the cancellation of athletic events between the universities from 1906 to 1908; however, newspapers from the time cite a fight that occurred at a baseball game in West Lafayette on May 31, 1906, as the cause.^[25]

The building that was sold and housed the former CCPS would eventually come under the ownership of IU supporters, who would establish a separate medical school, the State College of Physicians and Surgeons (SCPS), there in 1906. This school offered clinical instructions to IU Bloomington's third- and fourth-year medical students. The SCPS enrolled 109 students in September 1906. In August 1907 the IU board of trustees agreed to a merger of the IU School of Medicine in Bloomington with the SCPS in Indianapolis but agreed to only take financial responsibility for the school's facilities in Monroe County. The first two years of training continued at Bloomington and the final two years of clinical training were held at the SCPS in Indianapolis, with a doctor of medicine degree conferred by Indiana University.^[26]

Incorporation of Purdue's school and move to Indianapolis

Winthrop E. Stone, 1902

To resolve their ongoing dispute, the leaders of IU and Purdue, along with each of their supporters, sought approval from the Indiana General Assembly to operate their own schools of medicine in Marion County with the 1907 legislative session hearing proposals from both IU and Purdue to operate separate schools.^[24] Divided over competing loyalties to IU or Purdue (the state's largest public schools and historic rivals), legislators debated for months, with neither bill being passed. Eventually, Purdue's president, Winthrop E. Stone, relented and was hailed as a peacemaker, stating that Purdue should leave medical education to IU since it was not central to Purdue's mission as an agricultural and mechanical university and because the problem was so disruptive.^[24] In April 1908, IU and Purdue reached an agreement that incorporated the SCPS and the Purdue School of Medicine into the school of medicine in Bloomington and retained the name Indiana University School of Medicine.^[27] The agreement additionally stipulated that the school be governed by a board of directors consisting of representatives from IU, Purdue, and the Indiana State Medical Association.^[3] This shared governance came to an end on February 26, 1909, when the state legislature formally authorized IU to operate a medical school in Marion County and clearly mandated that IU assume total responsibility for the state's public medical school.^[3] The state legislature's authorization enabled IU's medical students to complete years two through four of their medical education in Indianapolis or remain in Bloomington for their first two years before transferring.^[13] Students still had to complete at least one year in Bloomington.^[28]

Early leadership and enrollment

Dr. Allison Maxwell agreed to serve as the first dean of the four-year IU School of Medicine in Indianapolis in April 1908; he remained as its dean until 1911. Maxwell led the fledgling school through a difficult time when financial budgets were an issue and the consolidation of IU's and Purdue's medical school faculties in Indianapolis and Bloomington was completed. The combined faculty would support the four-year medical school at Indianapolis and maintain the two-year, pre-clinical coursework at Bloomington. In addition to Maxwell, other leaders in IUSM's early history were drawn from Johns Hopkins University, including Charles P. Emerson who was appointed as the second dean of IUSM in 1911 and served in that role until 1931.^[29]

Willis Dew Gatch became the third dean of the medical school in 1932. In 1909, Gatch invented the Gatch adjustable hospital bed, which used a crank to raise and lower the patient's head and feet.^[30] John D. VanNuys, a 1936 graduate of IUSM, became its fourth dean in 1947.^[31] Amelia R. Keller, department of pediatrics, was the sole woman on the clinical faculty of the IU Medical School in Indianapolis after the school's consolidation with the Purdue School of Medicine in 1908.^[31]

IUSM graduated its first class of twenty-seven students and conferred its first Doctor of Medicine degree in May 1907. The first graduation of the consolidated IU and Purdue schools of medicine took place the following year. IUSM's first black student, Clarence Lucas, graduated in 1908; the first woman graduate of the newly consolidated school, Lillian Mueller, did so in 1909.^[32]

The Flexner Report

Abraham Flexner, a renowned American educator whose work helped reform many medical schools, visited IUSM in November 1909. He noted in his later Flexner Report (1910): "The situation in the state [was], thanks to the intelligent attitude of the university, distinctly hopeful, though it will take time to work it fully."^[33]

Flexner also made a recommendation for the progress of the school: "In order to make the school attractive to highly qualified students, it will be necessary (1) to employ full-time men in the work of the first two years, (2) to strengthen the laboratory equipment, (3) greatly improve the organization and conduct of the clinical courses."^[34] The IU School of Medicine was one of few medical schools in the nation at the time to receive a positive evaluation from Flexner, primarily because of its strong emphasis on college preparatory coursework in the sciences prior to enrolling in medical school and its additional training in the basic sciences as part of its medical school curriculum.^[35][36]

Early facilities

In its early years in Indianapolis, IUSM used the former SCPS facilities (themselves the former CCPS facilities), erected in 1902 and located at the corner of Market Street and Senate Avenue. After the consolidation of IUSM with the SCPS and the Purdue School of Medicine in 1908, the medical school used the former Purdue School of Medicine facilities (which were the former MCI's facilities) for about ten years while it secured financing to construct new medical school buildings. Several of the medical school's early buildings in Indianapolis were erected in the 1910s and 1920s on property that would eventually become the site of the IU Medical Center on the present-day IUPUI campus.^[37]

In February 1912, IU acquired property on West Michigan Street, near the Indianapolis City Hospital (the modern-day Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital), to erect the Robert W. Long Hospital. Construction on the new teaching hospital began in 1912. Although its cornerstone was laid on November 1, 1912, the Great Flood of 1913 delayed the building's opening until 1914. Long Hospital was dedicated on June 15, 1914, and admitted its first patients the following day. Also planned with the opening of Long Hospital was the creation of the IU Training School for Nurses. Originally a part of IUSM, it became its own school (the IU School of Nursing) in 1956. Emerson Hall, another early medical school building, was constructed about 200 feet (61 m) northeast of Long Hospital and completed in the fall of 1919 at a cost of $257,699.^[38] Long Hospital was considered for demolition in the 1950s and was ultimately replaced by University Hospital in 1970; the building remains in service to IU Health and IUSM as Long Hall.

Eskenazi Hospital, July 2022

The cornerstone of the Riley Hospital for Children was laid on October 7, 1923, and dedicated on October 7, 1924. The hospital, named in honor of Hoosier poet James Whitcomb Riley, was erected north of Long Hospital. The James Whitcomb Riley Association (now known as the Riley Children's Foundation) hoped to raise an initial $250,000 in funding to add to the state's appropriation. By 1923 it had received $911,518 in pledges from more than 30,000 citizens,^[39] including $45,000 in donations from a mass fundraising event. Significant additions to the hospital were built over the years, including three in the 1930s: a Kiwanis Unit, dedicated in 1930; a Rotary Unit, dedicated in 1931; and a hydrotherapy pool in 1935.^[40]

Another of the medical school's early teaching hospitals was the William H. Coleman Hospital for Women. Erected west of Long Hospital and dedicated on October 20, 1927, Coleman Hospital's total cost was about $300,000. Other early buildings erected on the medical school campus in Indianapolis included the Ball Residence for Nurses, dedicated on October 7, 1928;^[40] and Fesler Hall, built in 1939. Myers Hall was built in Bloomington in 1937 for the medical students there. The school's medical research building was expanded in 1947 with a five-year grant from the Riley Children's Foundation. The VanNuys Medical Sciences Building opened in Indianapolis in 1958.^[41]

Expansion

Following the opening of VanNuys, all medical instruction was moved to Indianapolis.^[17] Due to a projected shortage of American physicians in the early 1960s, some state politicians called for a second medical school.^[17] Rather than face competition, IU proposed the creation of a statewide medical school system under its control. IUSM ceased its consolidatory efforts in Indianapolis and instead looked for partners throughout the state to expand medical education; the first two years of medical education resumed at Bloomington as well.^[17] IUSM found its partners in 1968 at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend and with its old rival, Purdue. Pilot programs were established at each campus, and about a dozen students at both Notre Dame and Purdue were allowed to complete the first two years at their regional campuses before transferring to Indianapolis.^[17] In 1971, the state legislature accepted IU's proposal and established a statewide system for medical education, and five other first-year training sites were added throughout the state by 1981 at IU Northwest in Gary, Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne,^{[lower-alpha 2]} Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana State University in Terre Haute, and at a joint venture of the University of Evansville and the Evansville campus of Indiana State.^{[lower-alpha 3]} By 1990 all regional campuses were able to provide the first two years of education before Indianapolis transfer (prior to this only Bloomington, South Bend, and West Lafayette provided the first two years).^[17] Faced with another call for more physicians in the early 2000s, all campuses offered full four-year programs by 2014, allowing students to complete their degrees at a regional campus without transfer to Indianapolis.^[17]

On October 19, 2022, IUSM broke ground to create a new, $230 million medical education and research building in Indianapolis.^[42]

Combined degree programs

IUSM offers many combined degree programs: an MD/PhD, an MD/MBA in a partnership with the IU Kelley School of Business, an MD/MPH in a partnership with the IU Fairbanks School of Public Health, an MD/MS or MD/MA through various IU schools, an MD/MS BME in a partnership with Purdue University's Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, and an MD/JD in a partnership with the IU McKinney School of Law. The MD/PhD program, which offers full tuition and a stipend to students, is one of many programs to be designated a Medical Scientist Training Program by the National Institutes of Health. IUSM also offers certificates in various fields.^[47]

IUSM also offers baccalaureate to MD (B/MD) programs at the Muncie, Terre Haute, and Evansville campuses; the programs are only available to Hoosiers. Upon successful completion of an undergraduate degree and meeting other academic and testing requirements, students of a B/MD program at Ball State University (Muncie), Indiana State University (Terre Haute), or the University of Evansville, the University of Southern Indiana, or Indiana University Southeast (all for Evansville) will matriculate directly into IUSM at their home campus.^{[48][49][50][51]}

Beginning in the fall of 2024, IUSM will offer a "pathway to medicine" program at the new IU Indianapolis campus. The program is partly the result of IU's takeover of the Purdue University School of Science at IUPUI, which allowed for more administrative integration of the school than was previously possible. Seven- and eight-year programs will exist; eligible freshmen admitted into the school of science at the new IU Indianapolis will have direct acceptance into IUSM provided they meet and continue to meet the rigorous program requirements.^[52]

Scholarly Concentration Program

The Scholarly Concentration Program is an optional experience that complements a student's core medical curriculum. Students may research topics of personal interest, complete a scholarly project, and submit a manuscript for publication along with a poster presentation of their project. Projects are traditionally begun in the first year, with presentation and publication by the end of year four.^[53] Each campus hosts one to four topics that leverage the expertise of that particular campus.

The following are the concentration topics available at each campus:

Bloomington

IUSM traces its roots to Bloomington, being founded there in 1903 by president William Lowe Bryan. The Bloomington medical school building was constructed in 1937 using funds from the Works Progress Administration.^[58] Following the opening of VanNuys in 1958 and subsequent movement of all medical education to Indianapolis, the Bloomington medical science building was renamed as Myers Hall in honor of medical school dean Burton D. Myers.^[59] Not wanting Myers Hall to go unused, IU president Herman B. Wells secured funding for an advanced degree program that combined the first two years of basic science training of the MD program with a master's degree or PhD.^[17] A similar program was available at Stanford University at the time. About half of the Bloomington medical school faculty moved, with the remaining half forming the Department of Anatomy and Physiology at IU Bloomington.^[60] Medical education resumed at Bloomington in the early 1960s.

In 2002, IUSM–Bloomington traded spaces with the Indiana Molecular Biology Institute in response to both institutions' growing needs, with the school relocating to a modified space in the basement of Jordan Hall, now known simply as the Biology Building.^[59][61]

In August 2021, IUSM–Bloomington, the Bloomington campuses of the School of Nursing and the School of Social Work, and the IU Bloomington Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences moved into the newly constructed Health Sciences Building, a part of the Regional Academic Health Center (the RAHC).^[60] The RAHC also houses IU Health Bloomington Hospital and is located northeast of IU Bloomington's campus at the corner of East Discovery Parkway and State Road 45.

Prior to the 2023 academic year, third-year clerkships at the Bloomington campus were longitudinal, as opposed to the standard block schedule found at other IUSM campuses.^[62] Founded in 2012, the Bloomington Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship (BLIC) program was a unique aspect of the Bloomington campus and was a motivating factor for students to stay on a regional campus for their clinical education.^[63] For example, instead of doing a 4-week rotation in neurology, an 8-week rotation in pediatrics, and then an 8-week rotation in surgery, students would be in a neurology clinic on Monday, a pedatrics clinic on Tuesday, and an operating room on Wednesday, and so on for select rotations for most of third year. Due to the nature of this schedule, clerkship National Board of Medical Examiners shelf exams, which are normally taken at the end of a rotation, were all taken at similar times at the conclusion of the program. Because of the intense, multi-subject studying required throughout the program, BLIC students consistently scored higher on shelf exams and on Step 2 CK. Another benefit of BLIC was the development of long-term, meaningful relationships with faculty and patients. The end of BLIC and IUSM–Bloomington's transition to a block schedule was announced in early 2022, in part because the program was very challenging to coordinate and due to higher-level school administrative pressure for each IUSM campus to be more uniform and less autonomous.

Evansville

The Evansville campus was founded in 1972 as part of IUSM's regional campus system founded in 1971 which would allow medical students to complete their first and second years away from Indianapolis. The first class of five students split their time between Indiana State University–Evansville (which would become the University of Southern Indiana [USI] in 1985) and the University of Evansville (UE).^[64] Students attended gross anatomy lab in the back of UE's student union until better arrangements were established. In 1994, all courses moved to USI's Health Professions Center and in 2014, students were able to complete all four years at the regional campus. In 2018, courses moved to the new 145,000-square-foot (13,500 m²) Stone Family Center for Health Sciences in downtown Evansville.^[65][64]

The Evansville campus includes expanded graduate medical education residencies through a consortium model with the Deaconess Health System, St. Vincent Evansville, Memorial Hospital and Health Care, and Owensboro Health.

In 2013, Indiana University, the University of Evansville, the University of Southern Indiana, and Ivy Tech Community College jointly signed letters of intent to co-locate a new interdisciplinary academic health science education in research campus in the Evansville region. The new campus was expected to open fall 2018.^[66] The interdisciplinary campus plan included a 40,000-square-foot (3,700 m²) simulation center with an advanced collaborative space. The facility was planned to be a combination of immersive training space, research, and potential product development. Following a $15 million donation from philanthropists and Evansville natives Bill and Mary Stone, the new building was named the Stone Family Center for Health Sciences.^[67]

In addition to the Evansville campus of IUSM, the Stone Center also houses healthcare and related programs from USI, UE, and Ivy Tech.

Fort Wayne

IUSM–Fort Wayne is IUSM's newest campus, being founded in 1981 when it moved into the third floor of a classroom and laboratory building at IPFW. In 2009, it moved to a new 43,000-square-foot medical education building. IUSM–Fort Wayne is located on the campus of IU Fort Wayne, which shares a 688-acre campus with Purdue Fort Wayne.^[28]

Indianapolis

IUSM–Indianapolis is IUSM's flagship campus, but not its oldest. It traces its founding to 1908 following the resolution of a rivalry with Purdue.

Muncie

The Muncie campus was founded in 1971 as one of the first campuses of the new regional campus system. Its first class of four students was met by an illustrious welcoming committee consisting of Ball State University's president, vice president, and the dean of the graduate school. Originally, students undergoing rotations at Ball Memorial Hospital had a "buddy system" where they were assigned a family practice resident and rounded with them; they also had to observe an autopsy prior to class registration.^[28] These are no longer requirements for Muncie students, though a cadaver dissection is still a part of the statewide human anatomy course taught at the beginning of first year.

Northwest–Gary

IUSM's Gary campus was created from scratch, unlike other the other regional campuses that occupied spaces at existing four-year institutions. Its original class of four students and five faculty set up shop at a building in East Chicago in 1972. It moved into trailers located on IU Northwest's campus in 1975 as it awaited the construction of new buildings, which were completed soon after. It moved into the Dunes Medical Professional Building in 2005, where it remains today.^[28]

South Bend

The South Bend campus was one of the first regional campuses, being founded at Notre Dame in 1968 as part of the regional campus pilot project along with the West Lafayette campus at Purdue. Its first class of two students took part in "clinical correlation" courses by visiting family clinics on weekends, a practice that is now included statewide. IUSM–South Bend students are additionally dual-enrolled as graduate students at Notre Dame, allowing them access to Notre Dame's facilities and the benefits of being a student there, such as reduced football ticket prices.^[28]

Terre Haute

The Terre Haute campus was founded in 1971 and immediately faced a good problem—an inverted teacher-to-student ratio. This was due in part to many willing faculty at Indiana State to teach medical students. IUSM–Terre Haute is also home to IUSM's Rural Medicine Education Program, which integrates the curriculum of medical school with delivering care in a rural setting. Students at the Terre Haute campus may precept with rural physicians weekly during their first two years of medical school.^[28]

West Lafayette

While IUSM–West Lafayette traces its founding class of three medical students to 1968 as one of the first regional campuses, medical education in the Lafayette area has a history of more than 125 years.^[28] Purdue University's own department of medicine was founded there in the late 19th century, and it would exist as the School of Medicine of Purdue University from 1905 to 1908; thus, the Purdue School of Medicine was one of the component parts that contributed to the creation of the modern IUSM. Purdue's College of Pharmacy was established in 1884, and its School of Nursing was founded in 1963. Medical students at the West Lafayette campus routinely interact with pharmacy, nursing, allied health professions, and other healthcare-related students throughout their education.

For 40 years, IUSM–West Lafayette occupied a space in the basement of Lynn Hall, the home of Purdue's College of Veterinary Medicine and animal hospital; it moved to the second floor of the nearby 60,000-square-foot Lyles–Porter Hall in 2014, a space it shares with other programs of Purdue's College of Health and Human Sciences.^[28] Clinical rotations are completed in area clinics, at IU Health Arnett Hospital, and at Franciscan Health Lafayette East Hospital.

Medical students at the West Lafayette campus can access a wide range of support services through both IUSM and Purdue University, as they are additionally dual-enrolled as graduate students in the Purdue University system and receive a Purdue University ID. This provides them access to a wide range of opportunities, such as the ability to check out materials from Purdue's libraries, access to recreational gyms and pools, and free rides on the Greater Lafayette CityBus. Students may also enjoy a Big Ten campus atmosphere that includes seminars, sports, arts, music festivals and performances, and many other cultural events.

In addition, students may pursue dual degrees through Purdue University, such as an MD/PhD, MD/MPH through Purdue's Department of Public Health, MD/MS through Purdue's College of Science, MD/MBA through the Daniels School of Business, and an MD/MS BME though the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering.

Research centers, institutes and groups

• Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Center
• Bowen Research Center
• Center of Excellence in Women's Health
• Diabetes Translational Research Center
• Hartford Center of Excellence in Geriatric Medicine
• Herman B Wells Center for Pediatric Research
• Indiana Alcohol Research Center
• Indiana Alzheimer Disease Center
• Indiana Center for Musculoskeletal Health
• Indiana University Center for Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases^[76]
• Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute
• Indiana Spinal Cord and Head Injury Research Center
• Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center
• Indiana University Center for Aging Research
• Institute of Psychiatric Research
• Krannert Institute of Cardiology
• Regenstrief Institute, Inc.^[77]
• Stark Neurosciences Research Institute
• Wells Center for Pediatric Research