The Osler Medical Service

The Osler Medical Service at Johns Hopkins University, founded by William Osler, was a full-time, sleep-in residency system whereby staff physicians lived in the Administration Building of the Hospital. The residency was open-ended, and long tenure was the rule. Doctors spent as long as seven or eight years as residents, during which time they led a restricted, almost monastic life. It involved the idea of clinical clerkships – having third and fourth year students work with patients on the wards. It pioneered the practice of bedside teaching, making rounds with a handful of students.