Penn Medical University
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Penn Medical College was founded by Dr. Joseph S. Longshore in 1853[1], but the name was changed to Penn Medical University in 1854.[2] It was among the first medical colleges to admit both men and women but they attended separate sessions (Fall term for women, Spring term for men). The school held classes in several locations over the years, including Franklin Hall (on Sixth Street below Arch Street), the Thirteenth and Arch Streets, then 419 Market Street. In 1857, it moved to Twelfth and Chestnut Streets, then three years later to 910 Arch Street. At the Arch Street home a dispensary was opened in 1860, and in 1862 a dental department was established. In 1874, the school moved to its final location at 1131 Brown Street. The school closed in 1881.[2]
Confusion about the name of the school
The chartered name of the institution was Penn Medical College but it was changed on January 14, 1854, by decree of the Court of Quarter Sessions to Penn Medical University, before its first year had drawn to a close.[2] The school is very frequently confused with two other Philadelphia medical schools that existed at the same time. Because of "Penn" being in the name, the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania, with its longtime nickname "Penn," is one. The other is the Female Medical of Pennsylvania, often confused because it, like Penn Medical University, also admitted women.
References
- ^ Gardner, Martha N. (2002). Midwife, Doctor, or Doctress? The New England Female Medical College and Women's Place in Nineteenth-century Medicine and Society. Doctoral dissertation, Brandeis University.
- ^ a b c Abrahams, Harold J. (1966). Extinct Medical Schools of Nineteenth-Century Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press. Print.
Primary sources
- Announcement and Catalogue of the Penn Medical University of Philadelphia, Male and Female Departments, for 1857-58: With the Valedictory Address to the Graduating Classes, Delivered at the Public Commencement, held in the Musical Fund Hall, May 30th, 1857, Philadelphia, 1857. Retrieved 2016 May 11.
- Longshore, Joseph S., The Practical Importance of Female Medical Education: An Introductory Lecture, delivered September, 6th, 1853 in the Penn Medical College, of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, 1853. Retrieved 2016 May 11.