Howard University College of Medicine

Historically black medical school in Washington, D.C.

Howard University College of MedicineMotto| Veritas et Utilitas

|

Motto in English

| Truth and Service
Type| Private
Established| 1868[1]
Dean| Andrea A. Hayes Dixon
Location|

Washington, D.C.

United States

38°55′3″N 77°1′13″W﻿ / ﻿38.91750°N 77.02028°W﻿ / 38.91750; -77.02028
Campus| Urban
Website| medicine.howard.edu

The Howard University College of Medicine (HUCM) is an academic division of Howard University that grants the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.), Ph.D., M.S., and the M.PH. HUCM is located at the Howard University Health Sciences Center in Washington, D.C., and it was founded in 1868 in response to the growing population of the city.

With more than 4,000 living alumni, the college has produced a sizeable share of the African-American physicians practicing in the United States.

The mission of the college includes improving health care through training programs and initiatives, discovering knowledge through research, and supporting the education and training of postgraduate physicians, other healthcare providers, and graduate students in biomedical sciences. Many of the college students gain professional experience at Howard University Hospital, the primary teaching hospital for the school.

## History

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Founders of Howard University appreciated the urgent need for medical education in the District of Columbia after the Civil War. The name of Howard University is in honor of Major General Oliver Otis Howard.[2] The civil war had just ended, and freed African American people were migrating to the nation's capital in large numbers.[2]

The opening exercise for the newly created medical department was held at the First Congregational Church of Christ on November 5, 1868. The charter approving incorporation of Howard University specified that a department would be devoted to medicine. Dr. Silas Loomis, one of the university founders, was named the first dean of the medical department in 1868.[2] Among the first five faculty members was Alexander Thomas Augusta, reportedly the first African American to serve on a medical school faculty in the United States.[2]

The first classes began on November 9, 1868. There were eight students in attendance and the classes were being taught by five faculty members. The faculty members were Drs. Silas Loomis, Robert Reyburn, Joseph Taber Johnson, Lafayette Loomis, and Alexander Thomas Augusta).[2]

In 1869, a building for the medical department and Freedmen's Hospital was constructed by the Freedmen's Bureau on Pomeroy Street, presently Fifth Street NW. The building housed the medical and pharmacy program (and later the dental program), as well as, the Freedmen's Hospital. In 1927, a new facility was constructed on W Street.[2]

The first alumni association for the college was formed in 1871 by the five graduates of that year. The members of the new association were, William Bennit, James Bowen, George Brooks, Danforth Nichols, and Joseph A. Sladen. In 1945, the Howard University Medical Alumni Association (HUMAAA) was incorporated in the District of Columbia.[3]

In September 2020, Michael Bloomberg donated $32.8 million to help lower student debt at the institution.[4] In October of 2022, Andrea A. Hayes Dixon became the first Black woman to become dean of the school.[5]

In 2024, Howard University College of Medicine received a $175 million gift from Bloomberg Philanthropies to support the school’s endowment. [6] [7]

## Graduate programs

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Howard University College of Medicine has six training programs leading to the M.S. or Ph.D. degrees. These are anatomy, genetics and human genetics, microbiology, biochemistry, pharmacology, and physiology and biophysics.

The largest training program in the college is their four-year M.D. program. HUCM is known for producing physicians who provide healthcare to under-served communities throughout the United States. A major emphasis of HUCM is preparing physicians for under-served communities. Much of the experience these medical students gain with under-served communities is at Howard University Hospital, the primary teaching hospital for HUCM, but students also gain experience with other demographics by working at other hospitals in the D.C. metropolitan area including, Washington Hospital Center, St. Elizabeth's Hospital, and Inova Fairfax Hospital. The community surrounding Howard University Hospital under-served and is promoted as an excellent teaching environment for the HUCM students.

The Howard University Health Sciences Simulation Center opened a major state-of-the-art virtual medical training facility to advance the education of medical students and healthcare professionals. The simulation center, a 6,000-square-foot facility, is a simulated hospital environment that promotes improved communication skills between healthcare workers and their patients.[8]

The college is served by the Louis Stokes Health Sciences Library, named in honor of Louis Stokes, the first African American congressman elected from the state of Ohio.[9]

A long association has existed between Georgetown University and the college. The Georgetown-Howard Universities Center for Clinical and Translational Science (GHUCCTS) promotes clinical research and translational science.[10] This National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded multi-institutional consortium provides improved research infrastructure, inter-institutional collaboration, research on problems of on underserved populations, and educational programs. Senior investigators such as Dr. Thomas O. Obisesan guide teams of students, trainees, and junior faculty in research on high-impact diseases such as dementia.[11] Dr. Thomas Mellman, co-director of the center, pursues innovative research on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).[12]

## Service

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In conjunction with the New York chapter of the National Organization for the Advancement of Haitians (NOAH) and the Haitian American Alliance, the college has engaged in an ambitious service-learning-based medical project in Haiti. The team from the college consists of physicians from the departments of obstetrics and gynecology, internal medicine, pediatrics, pathology, and anatomy. The team travelled to Haiti as a humanitarian response to the devastating earthquake in 2010.[13]

## Deans of the college

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Former deans of the college are:[14]

* Silas Laurence Loomis \- 1868–1870
* Robert Rayburn - 1870–1871, 1900–1908
* Gideon S. Palmer - 1871–1881
* Thomas B. Hood - 1881–1900
* Edward A. Balloch - 1908–1928
* Numa Pompilius Garfield Adams \- 1929–1940
* John W. Lawlah - 1941–1946
* Joseph L. Johnson - 1946–1955
* Robert S. Jason - 1955–1965
* K. Albert Harden - 1965–1970
* Marion Mann \- 1970–1979
* Russell L. Miller - 1979–1988
* Charles H. Epps Jr. \- 1988–1995
* Floyd J. Malveaux - 1995–2005
* Robert E. Taylor - 2005–2011
* Mark S. Johnson - 2011–2014
* Hugh E. Mighty - 2014–2022
* Andrea A. Hayes Dixon - 2022–present

## Notable faculty members

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* Alexander Thomas Augusta, reportedly the first African American to serve on a medical school faculty in the United States
* Lillian Beard, pediatrician and spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics
* Quinn Capers IV, interventional cardiologist, professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine
* Debra Ford, colorectal surgeon and academic administrator
* Celia Maxwell, infectious disease physician and academic administrator
* Ruth Ella Moore, professor and chair of the microbiology department, researcher, reportedly the first African American woman awarded a Ph.D. in the natural sciences in the United States
* Daniel Hale Williams, the first person to conduct successful open heart surgery.[14]

## References

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1. ^ "Overview and History". Howard University. Archived from the original on 2013-06-22. Retrieved 2010-02-15.
2. ^ a b c d e f "A short history". Howard University. Archived from the original on 2013-08-06. Retrieved 2010-02-15.
3. ^ "HUMAA". humaa.com. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
4. ^ "Howard University To Receive $32.8 Million Bloomberg Donation To Support Black Doctors". Archived from the original on 2020-09-05. Retrieved 2020-09-05.
5. ^ "The First Black Woman Dean of the Howard - ProQuest". www.proquest.com. Retrieved 2024-04-16.
6. ^ Roush, Ty (2024-08-06). "Michael Bloomberg Donates Record $600 Million To Four Historically Black Medical Schools". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-08-14.
7. ^ "Bloomberg Philanthropies Announces Largest-Ever Gift to the Nation's Four Historically Black Medical Schools". Bloomberg Philanthropies. 2024-08-06. Retrieved 2024-08-14.
8. ^ "Simulation Center". howard.edu. Archived from the original on 17 May 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
9. ^ "LSHSL: Louis Stokes Health Sciences Library: Home". Louis Stokes Health Sciences Library.
10. ^ "Georgetown-Howard Universities Home | GHUCCTS". georgetownhowardctsa.org. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
11. ^ Obisesan, Thomas O.; Gillum, Richard F.; Johnson, Stephanie; Umar, Nisser; Williams, Deborah; Bond, Vernon; Kwagyan, John (2012). "Neuroprotection and Neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's Disease: Role of Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors, Implications for Dementia Rates, and Prevention with Aerobic Exercise in African Americans". International Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. 2012: 568382. doi:10.1155/2012/568382. PMC 3345220. PMID 22577592.
12. ^ Mellman, Thomas A. (December 2019). "A new meta-analysis of sleep findings in PTSD, toward integration and coherence". Sleep Medicine Reviews. 48: 101220. doi:10.1016/j.smrv.2019.101220. PMID 31678661. S2CID 207898491.
13. ^ "Howard University Provides Medical Aid to Thousands in Haiti". Archived from the original on April 2, 2015.
14. ^ a b "History | Howard University College of Medicine". medicine.howard.edu. Retrieved 2024-04-17.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website

* v
* t
* e

Howard University

Academics|

| Colleges|

* Arts and Sciences
* Business
* Communications
* Dentistry
* Divinity
* Education
* Engineering, Architecture & Computer Sciences
* Graduate School
* Law
* Medicine
* Nursing & Allied Health Sciences
* Pharmacy
* Social Work

|

Research|

* Moorland–Spingarn Research Center
* Ralph J. Bunche International Affairs Center
* Journal of Negro Education

People|

* Oliver Otis Howard
* Wayne A. I. Frederick
* Notable faculty

Athletics|

| Sports|

* Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC)
* Men's basketball
* Women's basketball
* Football
* Soccer

|

Facilities|

* Burr Gymnasium
* Greene Stadium

People|

* Kenny Blakeney
* Phillip Gyau
* David Oliver
* Larry Scott

Broadcasting|

* Howard University Television (WHUT)
* Howard University Radio (96.3 WHUR)

Campus|

* Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel
* Founders Library
* Frederick Douglass Memorial Hall
* Howard Hall
* Howard University Hospital

Student life|

* Afro Blue
* The Hilltop
* Jazz Ensemble
* "Showtime" Marching Band
* Notable alumni
* Sit-ins
* Blackburn Takeover

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* FAST

National|

* United States

Other|

* Yale LUX

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