Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine – Cleveland

In 1810, the first physician came to Cleveland to minister to the needs of the area’s 57 inhabitants. He ran a local store to supplement his income. By the late 1830s, there were two dozen physicians and surgeons. By the 1850s, first canals and then railroads connected the isolated market town to other major centers. In barely 40 years, a town established with less than 1,000 people grew to more than 40,000.

There was talk of a medical school. There was actually already a school to the east of Cleveland, but it was mired in financial difficulties and four of its six professors resigned. Together, they approached Western Reserve College in Hudson and asked to establish a medical department. The first classes began in the fall of 1843.