The Medical College of Wisconsin: a brief history.

33 The first successful medical schools in Wisconsin were located in Milwaukee: the Wisconsin College of Physicians and Surgeons, established in 1893, and the Milwaukee Medical College, established in 1894. By the end of the century, each school occupied an impressive building, with adjacent hospital facilities. St. Joseph’s Hospital was across the street from the Wisconsin College of Physicians and Surgeons; Trinity Hospital was in the same building as the Milwaukee Medical College. These proprietary schools were soon threatened with loss of accreditation since tuition alone could not provide for the educational requirements, much less provide a profit. On the verge of collapse, they were salvaged by their consolidation under the auspices of Marquette University in 1913, forming the Marquette University School of Medicine. The school was located in the building formerly occupied by the Wisconsin College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr William Jermain became the first dean. A conflict over termination of pregnancy when the life of the mother was at risk soon led to the resignation of a number of prominent faculty members who felt that the position of the Catholic church was interfering with their freedom to practice medicine according to their best medical judgment. Dean Jermain was able to guide the school through that troubled period, but the conflict over Catholic philosophy remained an underlying issue that would periodically surface over the next 50 years. By 1919, financial difficulties had become a serious threat to survival. A major fund drive propelled by the promise of a matching gift from the Carnegie Foundation established an endowment of $1 million and set the school on a sound fiscal course. A major gift from Harriet Cramer enabled construction of a new medical school building on the Marquette campus under the guidance of the Regent, Anthony F. Berens, SJ. The Harriet L. Cramer Memorial Building began use in 1932. Dr Eben J. Carey, formerly head of the Department of Anatomy, was Dean during World War II, a period when progress was impeded by shortages of faculty and an accelerated curriculum. Carey died in 1947 and was succeeded by Dr John S. Hirschboeck, an alumnus and practicing physician. As was true of many other Veterans Administration hospitals, the VA Hospital in Milwaukee was unprepared for the influx of the many veterans of the recent war. The local hospital was among the first in the country to become affiliated with a medical school with guidance by a Dean’s Committee. Faculty members were based at the hospital to oversee care of patients as well as to supervise residents and students. In 1952, the Liaison Committee for Medical Education (LCME) cited the lack of full-time faculty in the clinical departments as the reason for placing the school on “confidential probation.” This was a serious blow to Hirschboeck, who had already begun recruiting full-time faculty, a process that would consume much of his efforts and much of the school’s financial resources. The first fulltime member of the Department of Medicine, Dr William W. Engstrom, arrived in 1950. Other full-time department chairmen followed: Dr Edwin Ellison in Surgery, Dr John C. Peterson in Pediatrics, and Dr Richard Mattingly in Obstetrics The Medical College of Wisconsin: A brief history