Meharry Medical College, located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, is a graduate and professional institution affiliated with the United Methodist Church whose mission is to educate health care professionals and scientists. Founded in 1876 as the Medical Department of Central Tennessee College, it was the first medical school in the South for African Americans, though not the first medical school for African-Americans in the nation.
Meharry Medical College was chartered separately in 1915. It is currently the largest private historically black institution in the United States solely dedicated to educating health care professionals and scientists.
Meharry Medical College includes a medical school, dental school and school of graduate studies and research. The degrees that Meharry offers include Doctor of Medicine (M.D.), Doctor of Dental Surgery (D.D.S.), Master of Science in Public Health (M.S.P.H.), Master of Health Science (M.H.S.), and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees. Meharry is the second largest educator of African-American medical doctors and dentists in the United States. Also, it also has the highest percentage of African Americans graduating with Ph.Ds in the biomedical sciences in the country.
Currently, Meharry Medical College includes its School of Medicine, School of Dentistry, a School of Allied Health Professions, School of Graduate Studies and Research, the Harold R. West Basic Sciences Center, and the Metropolitan General Hospital of Nashville-Davidson County.
Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved is a public health journal owned by and edited at Meharry Medical College.
History
The college was named for a young Scots-Irish immigrant salt trader named Samuel Meharry, who was traveling through the rough terrain of Kentucky when his wagon suddenly slipped off the road and fell into a swamp. Meharry was helped by a family of freedmen, whose names are unknown. This family of freed slaves gave Meharry food and shelter in the night. The next morning they helped him to recover his wagon. Meharry is reported to have told the former slave family, "I have no money, but when I can I shall do something for your race."
In 1875, Samuel Meharry, together with four of his brothers, donated a total of $15,000 to assist with the establishment of a medical department at Central Tennessee College. With the contribution of the Freedman's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church North, George W. Hubbard and John Braden, an English Methodist cleric, were able to open the Medical Department of Central Tennessee College in 1876. The first had included eleven students. Of these eleven students, only one graduated in 1877. The second class, which had its commencement in 1878, had three graduates. In 1886, the Dental Department was founded, followed by a Pharmacy Department that was founded in 1889.
Among the second class of graduates was Lorenzo Dow Key, the son of Hillery Wattsworth Key. Key, together with Braden, was one of the founding members of the Tennessee Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, North. The church had split into Methodist Episcopal Church North and Methodist Episcopal Church South on the issue of slavery and was not reunited until 1939.
In 1900, Central Tennessee College changed its name to Walden University in honor of John Morgan Walden, a bishop of the Methodist Church who had ministered to freedmen. In 1915, the medical department faculty of Walden University received a separate charter as Meharry Medical College. It included the departments of pharmacy and dentistry. The Medical College remained in its original buildings, and Walden University moved to another campus in Nashville.
Meharry Medical College was one of the fourteen medical institutions established between the years of 1868 and 1907. Of these fourteen schools, six were located in the state of Tennessee. These schools were founded after the end of the Civil War when a large gap formed between the number of people in need of health care and the number of physicians willing to treat African Americans. During the late 19th century and into the early 20th century, most medical institutions accepted very few, if any, African American students. In order to combat this shortage of health care and the lack of accessibility to medical education, individuals, such as Samuel Meharry, as well as organizations, like the Medical Association of Colored Physicians, Surgeons, Dentists, and Pharmacists (later renamed the National Medical Association) helped to found medical schools specifically for African Americans.
Since its foundation, Meharry Medical College has added several graduate programs in the areas of science, medicine, and public health. In 1938, the School of Graduate Studies and Research was founded. The first master program, a Master of Science in Public Health Degree, was put into place in 1947. In 1972, a Ph.D. program was implemented, and in 1982 Meharry established an M.D/Ph.D. program. In more recent years Meharry has created a Masters’ of Science in Clinical Investigation degree program (2004).
On November 9, 2017, Meharry signed a memorandum of agreement with Hospital Corporation of America, America's largest for-profit operator of health care facilities. The agreement will have Meharry's medical students training at HCA's TriStar Southern Hills Medical Center in Nashville. Meharry students had previously received clinical training at numerous sites, primarily Nashville General Hospital since it moved on-campus in the 1990s. The continuation of inpatient care at Nashville General Hospital is doubtful after Meharry's departure.
Presidents
Hubbard served as Meharry Medical College's first president until his death in 1921. After Hubbard's death, Meharry Medical College presidents have included:
- John J. Mullowney (1921â€"1938),
- Edward Lewis Turner (1938â€"1944),
- M. Don Clawson (1945â€"1950),
- Harold D. West (1952â€"1966),
- Lloyd C. Elam (1968â€"1981),
- Richard G. Lester (1981-1982),
- David Satcher (1982â€"1993),
- John E. Maupin (1994â€"2006), and
- Wayne J. Riley (2006â€"2013)
- A. Cherrie Epps (2013-2015)
- James E.K. Hildreth (2015â€"present)
After George W. Hubbard’s death, a succession of presidents followed until 1950. From 1950-1952 there existed an interim period in which Meharry had no president, but instead had a committee that served as the institutions principal leader. In 1952, Meharry welcomed its first African American president, Dr. Harold D. West. West made a numerous changes using a $20 million fund drive. He added a new wing to the Hubbard Hospital, eliminated both the nursing and dental technology programs, and purchased land adjacent to the campus in order to make room for expansion.
Another notable former president of the school was Dr. John J. Mullowney. Mullowney became president of Meharry on February 1, 1921. He immediately began to implement changes to the school in order to improve Meharry’s overall rating. Admission requirements were heightened and strictly enforced, a superintendent was implemented at the hospital, and faculty number, research facilities, and hospital facilities were all expanded. Two years after Mullowney’s took leadership, Mehary Medical College received and ‘A’ rating.
In 2005, Meharry was censured by the American Association of University Professors for not observing generally recognized principles of academic freedom and tenure.
Research Centers
- Asthma Disparities Center
- Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neurosciences
- Center for Women's Health Research
- Clinical Research Center
- Export Center for Health Disparities
- Meharry Center for Health Disparities Research in HIV
- Sickle Cell Center
BS/MD Program
Seven universities are in partnership with Meharry to help recruit and prepare their pre-med students to enroll at Meharry. The seven universities are Alabama A&M University, Albany State University, Fisk University, Grambling State University, Jackson State University, Southern University, and Tennessee State University.
Notable alumni
References
Additional references
- Johnson, Charles (2000). The Spirit of a Place Called Meharry. Franklin, Tennessee: Hillsboro Press.Â
- Smith, John Abernathy. Cross and Flame: Two Centuries of United Methodism in Middle Tennessee. Commission on Archives and History of the Tennessee Conference, United Methodist Church, Parthenon Press, Nashville, Tennessee (1984). .
- Summerville, James. Educating Black Doctors; A History of Meharry Medical College. Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press, 1983.
External links
- www.mmc.edu â€" Official web site