About Us

The Department of Medicine was established in 1807, the same year the University of Maryland School of Medicine was chartered. In two centuries, only 14 men have held the esteemed position of Chair of the Department of Medicine.

Much of the department’s early teaching took place in Davidge Hall, the oldest medical facility in the country continuously used for medical education. The building’s secret stairways and hidden exits enabled the students of the early 19th century to escape angry mobs who gathered outside to protest the use of cadavers as teaching tools. Still used for teaching today, the building is much the same as it was then, serving as a constant symbol to our students of the rich history of our department.

The Department of Medicine was the first in the country to offer an in-hospital residency program. From those first two residents in 1823, we have grown into a program that now trains hundreds of residents and fellows in a variety of traditional and emerging specialties. Some of the best doctors in the world also work as professors for the Department of Medicine, training the next generation of healers even as they continue to make historic strides in such fields as infectious diseases, rheumatology and cardiology.

Along with clinical experience, students also get a strong foundation in research, contributing to and even publishing on discoveries that will change the face of medicine, long before these breakthroughs reach a hospital.

Want to join in on the innovation? Please visit the Admissions Page to learn more about becoming a student at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Already completed med school? Find out more about obtaining a residency or fellowship with the University of Maryland Medical Center.

Are you a patient seeking information? Please visit the University of Maryland Medical Center website for answers to a wide variety of medical questions. If you would like to schedule an appointment with a Department of Medicine physician, please call 1-800-492-5538.