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On December 18, 1807, the Mary-land General Assembly signed into law “An Act for Founding a Medical College in the City or Precincts of Baltimore for the Instruction of Students in the Different Branches of Medicine,” and the University of Maryland School of Medicine was born.
This medical school’s evolution into a top-tier biomedical enterprise would not have been possible without partnerships—with the Medical Alumni Association, the University of Maryland Medical System and the Maryland General Assembly, among others. Each of these relationships promises to take our institution’s limitless potential to new heights in the decades ahead.
To express our appreciation for our important partnership with the state legislature, we hosted a bicentennial kick-off breakfast for the General Assembly on January 30th in Anna-polis. House Speaker Michael E. Busch and Senate President Thomas V. “Mike” Miller, Jr., were our honored guests, and both spoke eloquently about the medical school and the two centuries of discoveries, breakthroughs, and contributions to the state and nation made by our distinguished alumni and faculty.
After the breakfast, University of Maryland, Baltimore president David J. Ramsay and I were invited to the floors of the House of Delegates and the Senate, where both chambers delivered proclamations honoring the school. Their resolutions honored us on the 200th anniversary of the legislature’s charter, which created the nation’s oldest public medical school and recognized our “rich legacy of education, research, patient care and service.”
Immediately following those ceremonies on the House and Senate floors, medical students, faculty members and alumni met with delegates and senators from their districts to ask for their support to ensure that medical education remains of the highest caliber. The students also told their representatives their personal stories. Matthew Dunn, an Eastern Shore native and former nurse who is now a fourth-year medical student—and soon to join you as an alumnus—acknowledged the lack of physicians on the Eastern Shore. He told legislators from that area that he plans to return home to provide care to its citizens after residency. He also emphasized the need for increased funding for scholarships to recruit talented students, particularly those who would not otherwise be able to afford a medical education.
Alumni supporting the medical school that day were Alice Heisler, ’63, Otha Myles, ’98, and Camille Hammond, ’01. They were joined by MAA executive director Larry Pitrof. While I had the pleasure of meeting Drs. Heisler and Myles earlier, I met Dr. Hammond for the first time in Annapolis. I was very impressed by their enthusiasm for and dedication to their alma mater.
Dr. Hammond is director for our program in patient survivorship and health disparities in the office of policy and planning. Dr. Heisler, president of the MAA, recently returned to the medical school faculty as clinical assistant professor of pediatrics after a four-year retirement. She is working part-time providing care to students at the Sharp Leadenhall Elementary School, not far from campus. Dr. Myles, secretary of the MAA, is a major in the U.S. Army Medical Corps and deputy chief of the department of epidemiology and threat assessment in the division of retrovirology at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.
I have very much enjoyed getting to know these exemplary alumni. I am eager to meet each of you and spend time getting better acquainted with you. As our once-in-a-lifetime bicentennial year unfolds, I am constantly reminded of the depth of dedication and clarity of vision of the generations of men and women affiliated with the medical school. This new awareness allows me to rededicate my own efforts on a daily basis, and I hope you feel as I do.