Stanford University School of Medicine

Stanford University School of Medicine

Mission	Improve health through leadership, discoveries, and innovation.
Established	1908
University	Stanford University
School Type	Private
Dean	Philip A. Pizzo
Faculty	801
Students	472
Location	Stanford, CA, USA
Campus	Suburban
Website	http://med.stanford.edu

Stanford University School of Medicine is a leading medical school located at Stanford University Medical Center in Stanford, California. Originally based in San Francisco, California as Cooper Medical College, it is the oldest continuously running medical school in the western United States. The medical school moved to the Stanford Campus in 1959.

Clinical rotations occur at several hospital sites. In addition to the Stanford University Medical Center (Stanford Hospital and Clinics) and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Stanford has formal affiliations with Kaiser Permanente, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and the Palo Alto VA. Stanford medical students also manage two free clinics: Arbor Free Clinic in Menlo Park and Pacific Free Clinic in San Jose. Stanford is a cutting-edge center for translational and biomedical research (both basic science and clinical) and emphasizes medical innovation, novel methods, discoveries, and interventions in its integrated curriculum.

Mission

The School of Medicine's mission is to be a premier research-intensive medical school that improves health through leadership, collaborative discoveries, and innovations in patient care, education, and research.

Rankings and admissions

In the 2012 U.S. News & World Report rankings, Stanford was ranked 5th in the nation.^[1] Admissions to Stanford is highly competitive. The acceptance rate is the second lowest in the country at 2.6% (only the Mayo Medical School is lower, with an acceptance rate of 2.5%).^[2] In 2008, 6,567 people applied and 463 were interviewed for 86 spots. Matriculates had an average GPA of 3.76 and median MCAT score of 35. Additionally, Stanford University Medical Center (the medical school's major teaching affiliate) is ranked 17th out of 4,825 hospitals evaluated, making it the second highest ranked hospital in the San Francisco Bay Area, according to U.S. News' Best Hospitals 2011-2012.

Along with the School of Humanities and Science, the Stanford School of Medicine also runs the Biosciences Ph.D. Program which was ranked 1st in 2009 among graduate programs in the Biological Sciences by the US News and World Report^[3]; for the incoming class in 2009, the program had an 11% acceptance rate.^[4] In specialties, according to U.S. News for 2011, Stanford is #1 in genetics, genomics, and bioinformatics; #2 in biochemistry, biophysics, and structural biology, immunology, cell biology, molecular biology and neuroscience, #3 in infectious disease, and microbiology.

History

Main article: History of Stanford Medicine

In 1855, Illinois physician Elias Samuel Cooper moved to San Francisco in the wake of the California Gold Rush. Cooper opened the first medical school on the West Coast in 1858, on Mission Street near 3rd Street in San Francisco. The school underwent many changes until Cooper's nephew, Levi Cooper Lane, established a new campus at the intersection of Webster and Sacramento Streets in 1882; at that time, the school was christened Cooper Medical College.^[5]

In 1908, Stanford University adopted the Cooper Medical College as its affiliated medical institution. The school expanded and built up a reputation for excellence and providing cutting edge clinical care. In the 1950s, the Stanford Board of Trustees decided to move the school to the Stanford main campus in Palo Alto. Since then the faculty and students at the School of Medicine have made numerous contributions to both clinical and basic science innovations, cementing Stanford's international reputation as a leader in medicine.

In the 1980s the Medical Center launched a major expansion program. A new hospital was added in 1989 with 20 new operating rooms, state of the art intensive care and inpatient units, and other technological additions. The Lucile Packard Children's Hospital was completed in 1991, adding even more diversity to the Center.

The recently completed Clark Center (Bio-X Program) houses interdisciplinary research endeavors and serves to reinforce Stanford's commitment to providing the best possible patient care through innovation. The focus of the program is to combine bioengineering, chemical engineering, physics, and entrepreneurship with medical research and clinical education to pioneer the future of medicine through translating discoveries.

As of 2009, Stanford School of Medicine is undergoing rapid construction to further expand teaching and clinical opportunities. Slated to open in Spring 2010 is the Li Ka Shing Center for Learning and Knowledge, which will serve as the gateway to the School of Medicine as well as a new model of medical education by combining biomedical research with clinical education and information technology. Also opening in Spring of 2010 is the Lorry Lokey Stem Cell Research Building, which will be the largest stem cell and regenerative medicine facility in North America. The Stem Cell Research Building is expected to collaborated with the newly opened Stanford Cancer Center to form the Ludwig Center for Cancer Stem Cell Research and Medicine, which will allow researchers to take an interdisciplinary approach to the study of human cancer stem cells. Furthermore, the Stanford University Medical Center will undergo a renewal and expansion project to be started in late 2010. This project will rebuild Stanford Hospital & Clinics and the Emergency Department, modernize and expand Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, replace the School of Medicine facilities to accommodate modern technology, and renovate Hoover Pavilion, the original Palo Alto Hospital, to accommodate community physicians whose practices will need to be relocate.

Looking forward, Stanford looks to create an entirely new model of medical education, one that will enhance the university’s ability to act as a transformational agent in health care and biomedical research. This unique approach embraces cross-disciplinary teaching modalities, breakthrough technologies, and innovative ways to advance training in both clinical skills and scientific investigation throughout the medical school curriculum. In addition, Stanford aims to deepen public understanding of academic medicine by demonstrating how discoveries made in laboratories and clinics lead to profound improvements in human health.

New curriculum

The new curriculum was implemented in fall, 2003. As a consequence of the new curriculum, classroom lectures are reduced from 30 hrs/week to 12-22 hrs/week, and there are no classes on Wednesdays. For the first two years, the grading scheme is completely pass/fail, and there is no AOA or other forms of an honor system as to encourage cooperation among students. In the clinical years, evaluation will be through a criterion-based system and just like the first two years using a pass/fail evaluation scheme. Each student can choose from 1 of 12 scholarly concentrations/majors, and students at Stanford learn to think and act as scientists, a unique angle in medical education.

Notable research/achievements

• 1956 - First use in Western hemisphere of linear accelerator to treat cancer
• 1960 - First kidney transplant in California
• 1964 - Demonstration of electrical stimulation of auditory nerve in deaf patients, paving the way for cochlear implants
• 1968 - First adult human heart transplant in the United States
• 1970 - Leonard Herzenberg develops the fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS) which revolutionizes the study of cancer cells and will be essential for purification of adult stem cells
• 1974 - Isolation of genome of a virus that causes hepatitis B and a common form of liver cancer
• 1979 - Discovery of dynorphin, a brain chemical 200 times more powerful than morphine
• 1981 - First successful human combined heart/lung transplant in the world (fourth attempted worldwide)
• 1984 - Isolation of a gene coding for part of the T-cell receptor, a key to the immune system’s function
• 1988 - Isolation of pure hematopoietic stem cells from mice
• 1993 - First clinical trial testing methods for preventing eating disorders in adolescents
• 1996 - Discovery that the p53 protein, known to be involved in controlling cancerous tumors, works as an “emergency brake” on cancer development
• 2000 - Solution of the structure of the RNA polymerase protein, a pivotal molecule that copies genes from DNA to RNA
• 2005 - Discovery of obestatin, a hormone that suppresses appetite

Notable alumni

• John Baldwin - Former Dean of Dartmouth Medical School
• Cheri Blauwet- professional cyclist, winner of Boston Marathon
• William Brody - President of the Salk Institute and former President of The Johns Hopkins University
• David D. Burns - Psychiatrist and author
• Amy Chow - Olympic gold medalist.
• Henry F. Epstein -- Cecil and Ida Green Distinguished Professor of Neuroscience, University of Texas Medical Branch
• David A. Wood - President of the American Cancer Society, first director of the UCSF Cancer Research Institute
• William Frist- Cardiothoracic Surgery Fellow; United States Senator, former presidential candidate
• Randall B. Griepp - cardiothoracic surgeon who collaborated with Norman Shumway in the development of the first successful heart transplant procedures in the U.S.^[6]
• Milt McColl - Former NFL linebacker
• James Mongan - CEO of Partners HealthCare (MGH and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School)
• Scott Parazynski - NASA Astronaut, veteran of 5 Space Shuttle missions
• Joshua Prager - Renowned pain medicine specialist
• Belding Scribner - Professor, University of Washington, inventor of the Scribner Shunt
• Irving Weissman - Leading Stem Cell Biologist. Founder of Systemix and Stem Cells Inc.
• Augustus White - Surgeon-in-Chief at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
• Ray Lyman Wilbur - President of American Medical Association, President of Stanford (1916-1943), personal physician of President Harding

Notable faculty

• John R. Adler - Professor of Neurosurgery. Inventor of CyberKnife.
• Ben Barres - Professor of Neurobiology renowned for research on sex and intelligence.
• George W. Beadle - Professor of Biology. Winner of 1958 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
• Paul Berg - Biochemist. Winner of the 1980 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovery of recombinant-DNA.
• David Botstein - Professor in genetics, pioneer in Human Genome Project.
• Eugene C. Butcher - Professor of Pathology, 2004 Crafoord Prize winner.
• Gilbert Chu - Professor of Biochemistry and Medicine, younger brother of Secretary of Energy Steven Chu.
• Stanley Norman Cohen - Professor of genetics and medicine, who accomplished the first transplantation of genes between cells. winner of National Medal of Science, National Medal of Technology, inducted into National Inventors Hall of Fame.
• Frances K. Conley - Famed female Neurosurgeon best known for advancing women in American medicine.
• William C. Dement - Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, pioneer in sleep research.
• Andrew Z. Fire - Winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
• Thomas J. Fogarty - Clinical Professor of Surgery, member of National Inventors Hall of Fame, owner of more than 100 surgical patents, including the Fogarty balloon catheter.
• Philip Hanawalt - Hertzstein Professor of Biology and Dermatology, discovered transcription coupled repair of DNA.
• Leonard Herzenberg - Emeritus (Active) Professor of Genetics, winner of Kyoto Prize for development of fluorescent-activated cell sorting.
• Emile Holman - First chair of general surgery at Stanford; Rhodes scholar and considered to be "last" pupil of William Halsted.
• Henry S. Kaplan - Pioneer in radiation therapy for cancer and inventor of the first linear accelerator in the Western hemisphere.
• Arthur Kornberg - Winner of the 1959 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (with Severo Ochoa) for their discovery of the mechanisms of the biological synthesis of ribonucleic acid and deoxyribonucleic acid.
• Roger Kornberg - Winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and son of Arthur Kornberg. Discoverer of nucleosome and transcriptional Mediator. Member of National Academy of Sciences.
• Joshua Lederberg - founder of the Stanford department of genetics, co-recipient of 1958 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
• Donald Laub - Founder of Interplast, Inc
• Kate Lorig - Director of the Stanford Patient Education Research Center
• Norman Shumway - Heart transplant pioneer; Performed first heart transplant in the United States.
• Bruce Reitz - First combined adult human heart-lung transplant
• Robert Sapolsky - Famous neuroscientist and Professor of Neurology, most noted for his studies on stress
• Vaughn Starnes - First living double-lobar lung transplant
• Lubert Stryer - National Medal of Science recipient, Winzer Professor of Neurobiology, and author of Biochemistry Textbook
• Edward L. Tatum - co-winner of 1958 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
• Irving Weissman - Leading Stem Cell Biologist. Founder of Systemix and Stem Cells Inc.
• Paul Yock - Inventor of the rapid exchange system for endovascular procedures.

References in popular culture

• Dr. Cristina Yang, a character on the popular medical television drama Grey's Anatomy is a Stanford alumna and 'graduated first in her class', despite Stanford's medical school not actually having grades or rankings
• Nick Rubashkin- Stanford Alum and Co-Editor of What I Learned in Medical School-personal stories of young doctors
• Bob Kelso, Chief of Medicine on the NBC comedy Scrubs graduated '12th in his class' at Stanford.
• At the end of Good Will Hunting, the character Skylar leaves Boston to enter medical school at Stanford.

References

1. ^ "Best Medical Schools". U.S. News & World Report. March 15, 2011. http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-medical-schools/research-rankings. 
2. ^ "U.S. News and World Report Medical School Rankings Acceptance Rates". 2009. http://premium.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-medical-schools/research-rankings. 
3. ^ "U.S. News and World Report Graduate Programs in the Biological Sciences Ranking". 2009. http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/grad/bio/search. 
4. ^ "The Dean's Newsletter: March 16, 2009". http://deansnewsletter.stanford.edu/word_docs/DeanNews03-16-09.doc. 
5. ^ Allen, Wilmer C., The First Hundred Years, San Francisco: Stanford University School of Medicine, 1959. OCLC: 15229140
6. ^ This House of Noble Deeds by Barbara Niss

External links

• Stanford School of Medicine Official Website
• Stanford School of Medicine History
• Stanford Biosciences PhD Programs
• Stanford MD Program
• Stanford School of Medicine Facebook fan page
• Stanford School of Medicine Flickr photo stream
• Stanford School of Medicine Twitter feed
• Scope research and policy blog from Stanford School of Medicine
• 2003 Residency Match
• Pictures of the Clark Center and CCSR (glass buildings)
• 2004 Residency Match
• Law Library
• H. Green library