The Marshall University School of Medicine was established in the 1970s through federal legislation which authorized the creation of five new medical schools in conjunction with existing VA hospitals. The West Virginia Legislature appropriated funding for the school in 1975, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education granted provisional accreditation in 1977, and the first class entered in January 1978 and graduated in 1981. In its early years, the school focused its most intense energy on building a strong faculty and a sound academic program, laying a foundation in biomedical research and establishing the partnerships that would be integral to its success as a community-based medical school. The school also developed primary care and rural health programs that would become cornerstones for its growth in the coming years.
