Southwestern Medical College

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Southwestern Medical College, right here in Dallas County. Now settle in, because this one starts with a foundation, literally, and ends with Nobel Prizes. That's not a bad arc for any story.

In 1939, four men got together with a vision. Dr. Edward H.

Cary, E. R. Brown, Karl Hoblitzelle, and Dr.

Hall Shannon organized the Southwestern Medical Foundation, and they had a specific goal in mind: quality medical education in Dallas that met the standards of the nationally-accepted Flexner Report. Four years later, on May 5, 1943, that foundation established Southwestern Medical College to serve Dallas and North Texas. Now, the man they called the driving force behind the whole endeavor was Dr.

Cary himself. He served as president of the foundation until his death in 1953, and by all the marker's accounting, this thing would not have happened without him. Classes for two hundred students began on July 1, 1943.

Those classes were held in pre-fabricated military buildings, right near Parkland Hospital, which served as the main teaching hospital partner. Pre-fabricated military buildings. Not exactly the gleaming halls of medicine, but here's the thing: within six months, the school was accredited with a top rating by the American Medical Association.

Six months. In temporary buildings. During a world war.

Speaking of which, the war had its own claim on this place. Southwestern became the army specialized training unit for the Eighth Service Command of the United States Army. Third- and fourth-year students were classified as army soldiers, and many of them worked as military medical officers.

These were students learning medicine and simultaneously serving in uniform. That's a particular kind of pressure to study under. Then came 1949, and a new chapter.

Southwestern affiliated with the University of Texas, bringing the school into contact with additional resources it hadn't had before. And then, beginning in 1968, dean Dr. Charles C.

Sprague guided what the marker calls a period of growth. Funding came from the UT system, the State of Texas, and donors to the Southwestern Medical Foundation, and with that backing, the campus doubled in size, the number of students doubled, and the center's educational, clinical, and research abilities were enlarged right along with everything else. The school grew into something called UT Southwestern Medical Center, and that name carries weight now.

Between 1985 and 2013, five faculty members were awarded the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine. Five. And one more was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1988.

So yes, this story starts in 1939 with four men and a vision, runs through wartime medicine in prefabricated buildings, and arrives at Nobel Prizes. Dr. Cary and those three other founders set something in motion here that kept right on moving long after any of them could have fully imagined.

What the marker says

This school was established on May 5, 1943, by Southwestern Medical Foundation to serve Dallas and North Texas. The foundation, organized in 1939 by Dr. Edward H. Cary, E. R. Brown, Karl Hoblitzelle, and Dr. Hall Shannon, promoted quality medical education in Dallas that met the standards of the nationally-accepted Flexner Report. Dr. Cary, the driving force behind the school and foundation, served as president of the foundation until his death in 1953. Classes for 200 students began on July 1, 1943, and within six months the school was accredited with a top rating by the American Medical Association. Classes were held here in pre-fabricated military buildings near Parkland Hospital, its main teaching hospital partner. During World War II, the school became the army specialized training unit for the Eighth Service Command of the United States Army. Third- and fourth-year students were classified as army soldiers and many worked as military medical officers. In 1949, Southwestern became affiliated with the University of Texas (UT), introducing the school to additional resources. Beginning in 1968, dean Dr. Charles C. Sprague guided a period of growth fueled by funding from the UT system, the State of Texas, and Southwestern Medical Foundation donors to double the size of the campus and number of students, as well as enlarge the center's educational, clinical, and research abilities. The important research work of the school, now named UT Southwestern Medical Center, has been honored with five faculty awarded the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine between 1985 and 2013, along with one awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1988. (2017)