A Brief History of The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences by G. David Anderson, University Archivist Page: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7

The GW hospital and medical school moved to 1335 H Street in 1868. The new building, which had previously housed the Army Medical Museum's specimens, was donated by W. W. Corcoran, philanthropist and president of GW's Board of Trustees from 1869 to 1888. The Evening Express of August 24, 1968, described Corcoran's gift as a place for students to "practice application of bandages and surgical appliances, to use the microscope, and to practice on the manikin."

In March of 1873, Columbian College became Columbian University, and seven years later GW's medical school instituted a three-year curriculum with two required sessions of dissecting and two of clinical instruction.

In 1881 the Board of Trustees set a revolutionary policy by permitting women to be admitted on a trial basis, and the first women students were enrolled in 1884--one in the School of Medicine and several in the newly established Corcoran Scientific School. For the next few decades, GW was one of the few schools in the country to allow female medical students.

In 1884 the University also moved to 15th and H Street, NW. The medical school building was renovated in 1887, and a new building was constructed in 1902. In 1931, the medical school added a brick annex to the H Street building to house laboratory facilities.

In 1894 the medical school became a four-year school, and four years later the University's preparatory school, closed in 1897, was designated as part of the University Hospital. The new hospital, located just west of the medical school, housed the dispensary, the operating suite, and a new section of private rooms and wards.

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