Mission of the School of Medicine

Stanford University School of Medicine provides an educational environment that encourages intellectual diversity and offers stimulation and opportunity for self-motivated students. The curriculum for students in the MD program has a twofold purpose: to develop in all students the capacity for leadership in the clinical practice of scientific medicine, and to prepare as many students as possible for careers in research and teaching in the various branches of basic, clinical, and social medicine.

The program of study emphasizes the faculty’s belief that medical education should prepare a physician for a lifetime of continued learning. The curricular flexibility of the MD program allows students to pursue individual career goals and to develop special interests.

History

The Stanford University School of Medicine was founded by Dr. Elias Cooper in 1858 as the Medical Department of the University of the Pacific. Thereafter, the medical college affiliated with the University City College. In 1882, a new medical building was built on Clay and Webster Streets in San Francisco by Dr. Levi Cooper Lane, nephew to Elias Cooper. He changed the school’s name to Cooper Medical College in honor of his uncle. In 1908, Cooper Medical College was adopted by the fledgling Leland Stanford Junior University which had been founded in 1885 about 30 miles southeast of San Francisco on a large tract of land maintained by Senator Leland Stanford as a stock farm.

For the next 50 years, the School of Medicine remained in its buildings in San Francisco, where all the clinical and some of the basic science courses were taught. Most of the preclinical courses were taught at the University. The Stanford University Medical Center was dedicated in September 1959, following a decision in 1953 by the Board of Trustees to consolidate all of the School of Medicine’s activities on the University campus.

The Stanford University Medical Center consists of the School of Medicine, Stanford clinics and hospital, basic science and clinical science research facilities, and Lucile Salter Packard Children’s Hospital. The School of Medicine has 16 clinical and 10 basic science departments dedicated to excellence in teaching, research and patient care. The faculty and modern facilities for research and clinical endeavors attract talented individuals from all over the world.

The School of Medicine is an integral part of a university with remarkable intellectual, cultural and recreational opportunities. Stanford’s student body of approximately 13,000 (including a graduate population of 6,200) has ready access not only to the University’s academic riches, but also to the natural beauty of its Northern California environment.

Stanford’s schools of Medicine, Business, Law, Earth Sciences, Education, Engineering, and Humanities and Sciences are recognized as among the finest in the country. Support services are afforded by several graduate and undergraduate libraries: the Lane Medical Library, with its comprehensive coverage of medical literature, including an important historical collection; the Cecil H. Green Library, with collections in the social sciences and humanities; the J. Henry Meyer Memorial Library; the library of the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace; and libraries specializing in engineering, chemistry, biology, mathematics, computer science, music, and law, among others. A frequent free shuttle bus service connects the medical school with other keypoints on campus, making it a simple matter for medical students to use the libraries and facilities of other schools and departments.

"The Farm," as the University is often called, was founded in 1885 by Leland and Jane Stanford to honor the memory of their son. The 8,800 acre campus, once the Stanford family’s farm and racehorse breeding ground, borders the towns of Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Los Altos, and Portola Valley.

A temperate climate (average high of 60° F in winter, 75° F in summer) enhances a campus lifestyle that is comparatively informal. Casual dress is typical, and bicycles are a common mode of transportation, especially between University residences and classes.

Recreational resources in the University community include more than two dozen tennis courts, four swimming pools, racquetball and squash courts, stables for private and group horseback riding lessons, weight training facilities, and a golf course. Many formally and informally organized intramural groups engage in competitive team sports. Season tickets for such varsity sports as football and basketball are available to students at reasonable cost.

Cultural opportunities include concert series and individual presentations by the Lively Arts at Stanford, which brings to campus some of the world’s finest performers in music, dance, and theater. There is also a variety of musical and dramatic performances by Stanford students in which medical students may participate. Exhibits and film series add to the wide range of activities that enrich campus life. Palo Alto and other adjacent cities have performing arts programs of professional calibre.

San Francisco, one of America’s most beautiful and cosmopolitan cities, is just 35 miles north of the campus and offers endless opportunities for sightseeing and entertainment. Just east of "The City by the Bay" is Berkeley, site of one of the major campuses of the University of California (and Stanford’s traditional football rival in the annual "Big Game").

Just south of Stanford lies "Silicon Valley"-the broad plain of Santa Clara County where the semiconductor industry has grown to giant proportions since the 1960’s. Historically this industrial development has involved close relationships with Stanford on many levels, and some students with an interest in various aspects of information processing and computer applications may find opportunities for employment in the industrial laboratories of Silicon Valley.

Four hours inland, the Sierra Nevada mountain range offers hiking, backpacking and skiing, the resort attractions of Lake Tahoe and the beauties of Yosemite National Park. The rugged coastline scenery of Big Sur is slightly over two hours south of Stanford; nearby Carmel and Monterey (site of the Monterey Aquarium and Stanford’s Hopkins Marine Station) have everything from coastal vistas with unusual plant and marine life, to specialty shopping and challenging golf courses.

Also within easy driving distance are the virgin redwood forest of Muir Woods, scores of wineries in the Napa and Sonoma valleys, and the historic California missions. The Sierra Club and other environmental groups offer mountaineering courses and other outdoor group activities for exploring Northern California’s natural resources.