Feinberg School of Medicine

The Feinberg School of Medicine, located in the Streeterville neighborhood of Chicago, in the U.S. state of Illinois and situated near Lake Michigan and the Magnificent Mile, is one of Northwestern University's 12 schools and colleges. The medical school offers a full-time Doctor of Medicine degree program, multiple joint degree programs, graduate medical education, and continuing medical education.

The mission of the Feinberg School of Medicine is to educate the next generation of physicians and scientists. It is a research-intensive institution, ranked 19th among American medical schools for research by U.S. News & World Report in 2015.^[5] It also is committed to patient care and community service.^[6] Through its affiliates, Feinberg faculty provide patient care to thousands of individuals every year. Feinberg and partner Northwestern Memorial HealthCare are together a $3 billion enterprise^[7][8] The school employs 3,400 faculty members.^[9]

History

Originally founded as the medical department of Lind University on October 11, 1859^[10] and renamed the Chicago Medical College in 1863, the school affiliated with Northwestern University in 1870. In 1891, the name was changed to Northwestern University Medical School. It had occupied buildings on the near south side of Chicago from 1863^[11] until the Montgomery Ward Memorial Building was constructed in Streeterville in 1926.^[12]

Northwestern University Medical School was renamed the Feinberg School of Medicine in 2002, reflecting a $75 million donation from the Joseph and Bessie Feinberg Foundation. Reuben Feinberg started to donate to the university after being hospitalized at Northwestern Memorial Hospital for a heart attack. The first donation, in 1988, was for $17 million to establish the Feinberg Cardiovascular Research Institute. A $10 million donation was subsequently sent in 1996 to establish the Frances Evelyn Feinberg Clinical Neurosciences Institute.

The Montgomery Ward Memorial building at the Feinberg School of Medicine

Northwestern was also affiliated with a medical school for women. Established as the Woman's Hospital Medical College in 1870, it later changed its name to the Woman's Medical College of Chicago and became affiliated with Northwestern University in 1892 as Northwestern University Woman's Medical School.^[13]

On September 1, 2013, Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation, the medical school's physician's group, joined Northwestern Memorial HealthCare's physician's group. The combined doctors group operates under the brand "Northwestern Medicine." ^[14]

Education

The Feinberg School of Medicine is part of the McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University, one of the nation's leading academic medical centers focused on research, education and clinical services. Other McGaw members include the Anne & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and Jesse Brown VA Medical Center (formerly VA Chicago Health Care System). Medical students and residents receive their clinical training at these hospitals, where nearly all the attending staff members have faculty appointments at the Feinberg School of Medicine. Residents may also train at affiliates such as John H. Stroger Jr Hospital of Cook County, Norwegian American Hospital and the Erie Family Health Center, MacNeal Hospital and Methodist Hospital, Gary, Indiana.

The medical school's primary teaching hospital is Northwestern Memorial Hospital, a 2,200,000-square-foot (200,000 m²) modern hospital that was completed in 1999. In the 2014-2015 US News and World Report list of "Honor Roll" Hospitals, listing the top 17 medical centers in the United States, Northwestern Memorial Hospital was ranked 10th and first in Illinois.^[15] The Feinberg Pavilion, the inpatient tower, partially reflects a $10 million donation from Feinberg. Prior to this $600 million addition to the Chicago skyline, the teaching hospitals were built in 1865. Films such as While You Were Sleeping were shot in the old Northwestern hospitals; the old, pictureless ID badges of Northwestern Memorial are clearly visible in the film.

The Feinberg School of Medicine is home to 670 medical students. The class of students graduating in 2014 were the 155th graduating class. In 2014, 7,727 people applied and 630 were interviewed for 163 seats. The median undergraduate GPA and MCAT score for successful applicants are 3.87 and 36, respectively.^[16]

Curriculum and degrees

In fall 2012, Feinberg's entering medical students began a new curriculum, organized into three phases and emphasizing integration of four main curricular elements: science in medicine, clinical medicine, health & society, and professional development. The goal of the renewal process is to build a more learner-centered educational program that (1) fully integrates scientific principles in a clinical context; (2) stimulates inquiry and investigation; (3) has an assessment system that comprehensively evaluates student achievement in each of the core competencies; (4) reinforces a culture of learning, teamwork, and excellence; (5) is flexible and able to meet the unique needs of individual students as they learn and differentiate.^[17]

For medical students, the school offers four-year dual degree programs, which combine the Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree with a Master of Public Health (MPH), a Master of Arts in Medical Humanities and Bioethics, or a Master of Science in Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety (MS). Students electing to pursue the additional degrees enroll in evening classes and graduate with both degrees. Two MD/PhD programs are offered, one in combination with Northwestern University's Graduate School (Medical Scientist Training Program) and one with the University's Institute for Neuroscience.

The school also offers graduate degree programs, some in combination with other Northwestern University professional schools:

• Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in basic science programs such as Biological Sciences and Clinical Psychology, and public health programs such as Health and Biomedical Informatics, Health Services and Outcomes Research, Epidemiology, and Translational Outcomes Science
• Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT)
• Master of Medical Science (MMSc) in Physician Assistant Studies
• Master of Public Health (MPH)
• Master of Science (MS) in programs such as Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Clinical Investigation, Genetic Counseling, Regulatory Compliance, or Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety
• Master of Medical Informatics (MMI)
• Master of Prosthetics and Orthotics (MPO)

Additionally, the school offers a BS/MD degree through the Honors Program in Medical Education (HPME), a seven-year combined undergraduate and medical school program.

Research

According to public financial data for Feinberg, support for competitive research grants from all external sources totaled $389.8 million in academic year 2013-2014.^[18] In 2014, Feinberg ranked 21st for NIH funding among American medical schools.^[19] The medical school houses 31 Core Facilities, including a Bioinformatics Consulting Core, Genomics Core and Human Embryonic and Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Core.^[20]

Faculty in the Research program at Feinberg study and mentor in a range of areas, including cancer biology, cell biology, chemical biology, drug discovery, developmental biology, evolutionary biology, genetics, genomics, medical biology, immunology, microbial pathogenesis, neurobiology, pharmacology, structural biology, biochemistry, epidemiology, behavioral sciences, preventive medicine, epidemiology, health outcomes, quality improvement, and translational sciences.

Robert Furchgott, a graduate of the class of 1940, received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1998 for his discovery of the role of nitric oxide as a signaling molecule.^[21]

Rankings

In 2015, Feinberg was ranked 19th among American medical research schools by U.S. News & World Report.^[22] In addition, the school is nationally ranked 13th among residency directors and 11th in student selectivity, reflecting an admissions acceptance rate of 6.5 percent of applicants.

Recent growth

Research space has grown 88 percent and education space 67 percent since 2000. The number of full-time faculty has also grown to over 1500, reflecting a 20 percent increase since 2000. The medical school's endowment topped $1 billion in 2005.^[23] In 2013, Northwestern announced an additional $1 billion investment in creating a leading medical research enterprise. This includes the construction of a new state-of-the-art research building on the site of the former Prentice Women’s Hospital, 320 E. Huron St. The new building will be connected to the existing Robert H. Lurie Medical Research Center. Northwestern’s plans include 300,000 to 500,000 square feet of research space with eventual build-out of approximately 1.2 million square feet. Additionally, more than 250,000 square feet of space in existing campus buildings will be converted to new laboratory space.^[24]

Notable alumni

• Mary Harris Thompson, Class of 1870, ad eundem, first female surgeon in Chicago and first female surgeon at Cook County Hospital. Founder of the Mary Thomson Hospital^[25]
• Roswell Park, Class of 1876, prominent surgeon for who the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, NY, is named^[26]
• Franklin H. Martin, Class of 1880, founder of the American College of Surgeons and founding editor of Surgery, Gynecology, and Obstetrics^[27]
• Daniel Hale Williams, Class of 1883, performed the first successful American open heart surgery; only black charter member of the American College of Surgeons
• Charles Horace Mayo, Class of 1888, founder of Mayo Clinic
• Carlos Montezuma, Class of 1889, one of the first Native Americans to receive a Doctor of Medicine degree from any school, and founder of the Society of American Indians
• Joseph Bolivar DeLee, Class of 1891, among the first American physicians to specialize in obstetrics and gynecology, author of major textbook, Principles and Practice of Obstetrics, for seven editions
• Isaac Arthur Abt, Class of 1891, among the first American physicians to specialize in pediatrics, author of the major pediatric textbook of the first decades of the 20th century^[28]
• Howard T. Ricketts, Class of 1897, discovered bacteria of the genus Rickettsia, and identified the cause and methods of transmission of rocky mountain spotted fever^[29]
• Allen B. Kanavel, Class of 1899, founder, regent, and president of the American College of Surgeons, internationally recognized as founder of modern hand and peripheral nerve surgery^[30]
• Theodore K. Lawless, Class of 1919, African-American dermatologist and philanthropist; advanced the treatment of leprosy and syphilis
• Alfred Bitini Xuma, Class of 1926, surgeon in Johannesburg and later president (1940–49) of the African National Congress, preceding Nelson Mandela. The first black South African to graduate from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (1932)^[31]
• J. Roscoe Miller, Class of 1930, president, Northwestern University 1949-1969; dean, Northwestern University Medical School, 1941-1949
• Robert F. Furchgott, Class of 1940, 1998 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of EDRF
• Cheddi Jagan, Class of 1946: President of Guyana from 1992–1997
• Ralph S. Paffenbarger, Class of 1947, epidemiologist, leader of the College Alumni Health Study in the 1960s, which established the health benefits of exercise, considered the father of the modern fitness movement
• Quentin D. Young, Class of 1947, leader in public health policy and medical and social justice issues; founded Physicians for a National Health Program and co-founded the Medical Committee for Human Rights,
• Kermit E. Krantz, Class of 1948, Distinguished University Professor of Medicine, University of Kansas. Developed the Marshall-Marchetti-Krantz (MMK) and invented the expandable tampon. Namesake of the Arey/Krantz Museum of Anatomy at the Feinberg School of Medicine.
• John A. D. Cooper, Class of 1951, first president of the Association of American Medical Colleges
• Thomas E. Starzl, Class of 1952, performed the first successful liver transplant in 1967 and received the National Medal of Science in 2004
• Joseph P. Kerwin, first physician in space, flew on three skylab missions and later served as director of Space and Life Sciences at NASA;
• Alan R. Nelson, Class of 1958, president of the American Medical Association (1989–90) and the World Medical Association (1991–92)
• Myles Cunningham, Class of 1958, president of the American Cancer Society, 1997
• Sandra F. Olson, Class of 1963, GME 1969, first woman president of American Academy of Neurology, the Illinois State Medical Society, the Chicago Medical Society, and the Chicago Neurological Society
• Joseph Silva, Class of 1966, dean, University of California–Davis School of Medicine, 1997-2005
• Eugene A. Bauer, Class of 1967, vice president for medical affairs and dean, Stanford University School of Medicine, 1995-2001
• Jay Perman, Class of 1972, president, University of Maryland, Baltimore, 2010 – present, dean, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, 2004-2010
• C. Richard Schlegel, Class of 1972, developed the dominant patent for a vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV) (administered as Gardasil) to prevent cervical cancer^[32]
• David J. Skorton, Class of 1974, president, Cornell University 2006 – present
• Joseph A. Walder, Class of 1975, founder and CEO of Integrated DNA Technologies, the largest supplier of custom nucleic acids in the United States
• Ora Pescovitz, Class of 1979, executive vice president for medical affairs, University of Michigan; CEO, University of Michigan Health System
• Andrew E. Senyei, Class of 1979, inventor, venture capitalist, and entrepreneur, founder of biotech and genetics companies
• David J. Smith, Class of 1981, Read Admiral, joint staff surgeon/chief medical advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; United States delegate to the North American Treaty Organization Council of Medical Directors
• Boris Lushniak, Class of 1981, Rear Admiral, deputy U.S. Surgeon General
• James P. Kelly, Class of 1983, director, National Intrepid Center of Excellence
• Peter G. Traber, Class of 1984, president, Baylor College of Medicine, 2003-2008
• Michael Barratt, Class of 1985, NASA mission specialist, 2000–present; member International Space Station Expeditions 19 and 20, 2009
• Harold Paz, GME 1985 and 1986, vice president and dean, Penn State Hershey Medical College
• Debi Thomas, Class of 1997: 1988 Olympic Figure Skating Bronze Medalist and orthopedic surgeon
• Dr. Gabriel Loor MD, Class of 2003 - Cardiothoracic Surgeon, University of Minnesota, conducted first “breathing lung” transplant in Midwest Bio

References

External links

• Feinberg School of Medicine
• Northwestern Memorial Hospital
• Integrated Graduate Program
• Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation