University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center

University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
Established	1971
Type	Public
Provost	Joseph J. Ferretti, Ph.D.
Academic staff	800
Admin. staff	2,400
Students	4,000[1]
Location	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Website	www.ouhsc.edu

The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center is the health sciences branch of the University of Oklahoma. Located in Oklahoma City, it serves as the primary place of instruction for many of Oklahoma's health professions. It is one of only four health centers in the United States with seven professional colleges.^[2]

The nineteen buildings that make up the OUHSC campus occupies a fifteen block area in Oklahoma City near the Oklahoma State Capitol. Surrounding these buildings are an additional twenty health-related buildings some of which are owned by the University of Oklahoma. The Health Sciences Center is the core of a wider complex known as the Oklahoma Health Center. The major clinical facilities on campus are part of OU Medicine and include the OU Medical Center hospital complex, The Children's Hospital, OU Physicians and OU Children's Physicians clinics and the Peggy and Charles Stephenson Oklahoma Cancer Center. Also part of the major clinical facilities is the Oklahoma City VA Medical Center.^[3]

History

The University of Oklahoma in Norman was founded in 1890, 17 years before Oklahoma's statehood, by the Oklahoma Territorial Legislature. In 1910, OU's fledgling two-year medical school moved to Oklahoma City and became a four year program.^[4] A school of nursing was founded nearby the next year, and graduated its first class in 1913. In subsequent years a new university hospital was built, a graduate college for biomedical sciences was established, and the Oklahoma City Veterans Administration Hospital was constructed. A school of health was created in 1967, splitting twelve years later into a college of allied and public health. In 1971, the University of Oklahoma Medical Center became the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and all schools on the HSC campus were designated as colleges. The College of Pharmacy, OU's oldest professional program, made the move from Norman to Oklahoma City five years later.^[5]

On July 1, 1993, the University Hospital system officially became independent of the State of Oklahoma Department of Health Services.^[6]

Institutions

Patient Care Institutions

• OU Medical Center
• The Children's Hospital at OU Medical Center
• Oklahoma City Veterans Administration Hospital
• Dean McGee Eye Institute
• Peggy and Charles Stephenson Oklahoma Cancer Center
• Harold Hamm Oklahoma Diabetes Center
• Oklahoma Blood Institute

Educational and Research Institutions

Seed Sower statue on the OUHSC campus

On-campus park

• University of Oklahoma
  • College of Medicine
  • College of Dentistry
  • College of Nursing
  • College of Allied Health
  • College of Public Health
  • College of Pharmacy
  • Graduate College
  • Robert M. Bird Health Sciences Library
• Children's Medical Research Institute
• Presbyterian Health Foundation
• Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation [1]

Secondary Schools

• Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics

Government Institutions

• Office of the Chief Medical Examiner
• Oklahoma State Department of Health [2]
• Oklahoma State Department of Mental Health

References

1. ^ Prospective Students Overview
2. ^ OU Facts
3. ^ OUHSC Map
4. ^ Medical School early history from a 1932 Sooner Magazine article
5. ^ 1989 Sooner Magazine Article
6. ^ Official OUHSC History