Be sure to check our Medical Colleges page for more detailed listings.

Changing Tides of Medical Education in Kentucky
Hospital College of Medicine
Louisville, Kentucky
Population of Louisville in the early 1880s: 123,758
The Hospital College of Medicine was established in 1873. The first class was graduate in 1875. Classes were graduated each subsequent year. The faculty included eight professors and one demonstrator.
Course of Instruction
One preliminary course of three weeks’ duration, one regular (graduating) course of nineteen weeks’ duration, and one practitioners’ course were given annually. Daily quizzes were conducted by the faculty. Clinics were given at hospitals and dispensary. Lectures included obstetrics, gynecology, physiology, hygiene, mental diseases, surgery, principles and practice of, and clinical medicine, descriptive, comparative and surgical anatomy, materia medica, therapeutics, diseases of children, ophthalmology, otology, microscopy, practical chemistry, practical physiology, and minor surgery.
Requirements for Admission
For admission there were no requirements. In order to graduate, students had to be twenty-one years of age, of good moral character, completed three years’ study, two complete courses of lectures, practical anatomy for one session, clinical instruction at hospital during one session, an an examination on all branches taught in the college.
Cost of Attendance
Matriculation was $5; lectures were $75; demonstrator fees were $10; hospital fees were $5; practical chemistry fees were $5; graduation fee was $30.
Students
Number of matriculates and of graduates at each sessions reported, and percentages of graduates to matriculates:
Session | Matriculates | Graduates | Percent |
1877-78 | 64 | 19 | 29+ |
1878-79 | 87 | 24 | 27+ |
1879-80 | 95 | 38 | 40 |
1880-81 | 77 | 31 | 40+ |
1881-82 | 75 | 36 | 48 |
1882-83 | 87 | 31 | 35+ |
Average percentage of graduates to matriculate during the preceding six years: thirty-seven percent.
Jefferson School of Medicine
Louisville, Kentucky
Population of Louisville in the early 1880s: 123,758
The Jefferson School of Medicine was established in 1882. The school graduated one class, in 1882, and then suspended operations.
See also:
Medicine Between 1851-1951
Contributed by Shawn Logan | contact@kyhi.org
⁘ Works Cited ⁘
- The Lexington Leader, 9 December 1949
- The Lexington Leader, 12 December 1952
- Medical Education and Medical Colleges in the United States and Canada, 1765-1885. Springfield, 1885.
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Glad you liked it! Since we limit everything to Kentucky medical/institutional history we employ a number of local archives and libraries. There are also some online databases that contain useful historical information as well.
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