The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions today reflect the commitment of its founder and the vision of the original faculty who created a new model of medical training. Johns Hopkins was a Quaker merchant who dedicated the Hospital to the care of the indigent of Baltimore and the School of Medicine to training superior physicians who would seek new information for the advancement of medicine. The School of Medicine opened in 1893, three years after the hospital, as economic recession had eroded the value of Mr. Hopkins’ estate. Indeed, the opening of the School of Medicine was made possible by the munificence of a wealthy Baltimore woman, Mary Elizabeth Garrett. Miss Garrett’s philanthropy was coupled with stipulations that all students accepted by the school have a baccalaureate degree (a stiff requirement at a time when many medical graduates could not read or write) and that women be admitted to the School of Medicine on an equal basis with men.
Together, the Hospital and School of Medicine ushered in a new era in medicine. Moving from laboratory to lecture hall to the patient’s bedside, students and residents brought the scientific approach to medicine and received firsthand training in the diagnosis and treatment of patients. The "Hopkins experiment" changed the pattern of medical education in the United States and had a positive impact on patient care. Within two decades, the Hospital and the School of Medicine were models of medical and surgical care and physician education for the nation. That distinction remains intact after 100 years.
A new era in disease prevention began at Johns Hopkins in 1916 with the establishment of the School of Hygiene and Public Health, known today as the Bloomberg School of Public Health. It was the nation’s first graduate training and research institution devoted solely to health promotion among groups of people, not just individuals.
Two of the most far-reaching advances in medicine during the last 20 years were made at Hopkins. The Nobel Prize-winning discovery of restriction enzymes gave birth to the genetic engineering industry and can be compared, some say, to the first splitting of an atom. In addition, the discovery of the brain’s natural opiates has triggered an explosion of interest in neurotransmitter pathways and functions. Other significant accomplishments include the discovery of vitamin D, the identification of the three types of polio virus, the development of closed-chest heart massage (CPR), and the first "blue baby" operation, which opened the way to modern heart surgery. Hopkins is the birthplace of many medical specialties, including neurosurgery, urology, endocrinology and pediatrics.
Today, the Hospital, the School of Medicine, the Bloomberg School of Public Health and the School of Nursing comprise the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, located on a 44-acre campus in East Baltimore. The William H. Welch Medical Library, also located on this site, collects the medical literature in all fields of teaching, patient care and research represented at the Medical Institutions, and contains more than 267,000 bound volumes and an excellent audiovisual collection.
While the heritage of excellence is important, the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions do not cling to the past. The Hospital and School of Medicine have spent more than $150 million in the last decade to expand facilities so that they can better respond to health care needs of today and tomorrow. Although Hopkins draws patients and scholars from all over the globe, the Medical Institutions remain committed to serving the health needs of Baltimore and Maryland.
The Hospital’s domed administration building dates from 1889 and is named for John Shaw Billings, the architect/physician/librarian who designed the original Hospital. Registered as a national historic landmark, the Billings dome stands as a familiar symbol of The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. It is a symbol of the many people working daily to provide the best possible care to patients, to train tomorrow’s physicians and to challenge the frontiers of biomedical science through research.
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