Duke University School of Medicine
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The Duke University School of Medicine, commonly known as Duke Med, is the
medical school A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, ...
of
Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist Jam ...
. It is located in the
Collegiate Gothic Collegiate Gothic is an architectural style subgenre of Gothic Revival architecture, popular in the late-19th and early-20th centuries for college and high school buildings in the United States and Canada, and to a certain extent Europ ...
-style West Campus of Duke University in Durham,
North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...
. The School of Medicine, along with the Duke University School of Nursing,
Duke University Hospital Duke University Hospital is a 957-acute care bed academic tertiary care facility located in Durham, North Carolina. Established in 1930, it is the flagship teaching hospital for the Duke University Health System, a network of physicians and hosp ...
, Duke Regional Hospital, Duke Children's Hospital, Duke Raleigh Hospital, and other affiliated hospitals, clinics, and laboratories, make up the
Duke University Health System The Duke University Health System combines the Duke University School of Medicine, the Duke University School of Nursing, the Duke Clinic, and the member hospitals into a system of research, clinical care, and education. Member hospitals Duke ...
. Established in 1925 by
James B. Duke James Buchanan Duke (December 23, 1856 – October 10, 1925) was an American tobacco and electric power industrialist best known for the introduction of modern cigarette manufacture and marketing, and his involvement with Duke University. ...
, the School of Medicine has earned its reputation as an integral part of one of the world's foremost patient care and biomedical research institutions. Clinical rotations by medical students and residents occur within the
Duke University Health System The Duke University Health System combines the Duke University School of Medicine, the Duke University School of Nursing, the Duke Clinic, and the member hospitals into a system of research, clinical care, and education. Member hospitals Duke ...
, a fully integrated academic health care system encompassing a tertiary-care hospital and specialty clinics on the Medical Center campus, two community hospitals, a VA hospital, home health and hospice services, a network of primary care physicians, and other affiliated partners across the SE United States. The School of Medicine is currently ranked third in the country for research, while
Duke University Hospital Duke University Hospital is a 957-acute care bed academic tertiary care facility located in Durham, North Carolina. Established in 1930, it is the flagship teaching hospital for the Duke University Health System, a network of physicians and hosp ...
is consistently ranked among the top 20 of some 5,700 American hospitals by '' U.S. News & World Report''. Furthermore, the School of Medicine is especially noted for its groundbreaking biomedical research, bringing in more than $700 million in NIH-sponsored projects in 2021.


History

The idea of establishing a medical school at the current site dates back as far as 1891, when John Franklin Crowell, the president of Trinity College as it was known at the time, first announced a public plan to establish a school of medicine. In 1924,
James B. Duke James Buchanan Duke (December 23, 1856 – October 10, 1925) was an American tobacco and electric power industrialist best known for the introduction of modern cigarette manufacture and marketing, and his involvement with Duke University. ...
established the Duke Endowment and directed $40 million to Trinity College to become Duke University. The following year, he made an additional request to establish the Duke School of Medicine, Duke School of Nursing, and Duke Hospital, with the goal of improving health care in the Carolinas and nationwide. Three thousand applicants applied to the new medical school in 1929 and 70 first- and third-year students were selected, including four women, for the School's inaugural class. Just four years after its establishment, Duke was ranked among the top 20 medical schools in the country by the AAMC. Timeline of select research and patient care milestones * 1937—Barnes Woodall establishes the nation's first brain tumor program. * 1968— Robert Lefkowitz describes the adrenaline receptor. * 1972—Child safety cap requirements championed by Jay Arena enacted as federal law. * 1982—Pediatric immunologist
Rebecca Buckley Rebecca Hatcher Buckley (born 1933) is a medical doctor who has conducted research in pediatric immunological diseases. Biography Buckley graduated from Duke University in 1954 with a bachelor's degree. She received her Doctor of Medicine in 1 ...
uses bone marrow transplantation to restore the immune systems of children born with severe combined immunodeficiency, also known as bubble boy disease. * 1984—Bart Haynes contributes to the identification of HTLV-III, now known as HIV. * 1990—
Joanne Kurtzberg Joanne Kurtzberg is an American professor of pediatrics and pathology at Duke University. Education Kurtzberg completed her medical education at New York University in 1976. Career Kurtzberg is a professor and researcher at the Duke Univ ...
establishes the Duke Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Program. * 1994—Louise Markert demonstrates that babies born with no immune system, a fatal condition known as complete DiGeorge syndrome, can be cured with thymus transplantation. * 1995—Duke scientists link the
BRCA1 Breast cancer type 1 susceptibility protein is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''BRCA1'' () gene. Orthologs are common in other vertebrate species, whereas invertebrate genomes may encode a more distantly related gene. ''BRCA1'' is a ...
and
BRCA2 ''BRCA2'' and BRCA2 () are a human gene and its protein product, respectively. The official symbol (BRCA2, italic for the gene, nonitalic for the protein) and the official name (originally breast cancer 2; currently BRCA2, DNA repair associated) ...
genes to breast and ovarian cancers. * 2001—
Miguel Nicolelis Miguel Ângelo Laporta Nicolelis, M.D., Ph.D. (, born March 7, 1961), is a Brazilian scientist, physician and Duke School of Medicine Professor in Neuroscience at Duke University, best known for his pioneering work surrounding brain-computer ...
develops a system that allows monkeys to control robot arms via brain signals, an important step to enable paralyzed people to control neuroprosthetic limbs. * 2006—YT Chen and Priya Kishnani develop
Myozyme Alglucosidase alfa, sold under the brand name Myozyme among others, is an enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) orphan drug for treatment of Pompe disease (Glycogen storage disease type II), a rare lysosomal storage disorder (LSD). Chemically speaki ...
as the first treatment for Pompe’s disease. * 2011—Hai Yan leads a team of scientists from Duke and
Johns Hopkins Johns Hopkins (May 19, 1795 – December 24, 1873) was an American merchant, investor, and philanthropist. Born on a plantation, he left his home to start a career at the age of 17, and settled in Baltimore, Maryland where he remained for most ...
universities to identify mutations in a gene that makes cells immortal and appear to play a pivotal role in three of the most common types of brain tumors, as well as cancers of the liver, tongue and urinary tract. * 2013—Duke researcher Jeffery Lawson and Laura Niklason of
Yale School of Medicine The Yale School of Medicine is the graduate medical school at Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was founded in 1810 as the Medical Institution of Yale College and formally opened in 1813. The primary te ...
, develop a bioengineered blood vessel, which Lawson grafted into an artery in a Duke patient’s arm, the first in-human procedure of its kind in the United States. * 2015—Clinical trials using PVS-RIPO, a modified polio virus, to activate the host immune system to fight glioblastomas was featured on 60 Minutes. Preliminary findings have reported limited efficacy. * 2019—Forty-five faculty members were named as some of the most highly cited researchers on a global list from
Clarivate Analytics Clarivate Plc is a British-American publicly traded analytics company that operates a collection of subscription-based services, in the areas of bibliometrics and scientometrics; business / market intelligence, and competitive profiling for ...
and Web of Science, placing Duke SOM in a three-way tie as the 8th ranked institution in the nation. These faculty include Robert Leifkowitz, Robert Califf, Jason Locasale, and Darell Bigner.


Rankings and admissions

Duke University School of Medicine is recognised as one of the best medical schools in the United States and the world. It is currently ranked #3 in the country, according to '' U.S. News & World Report''s rankings for best research medical schools in 2022''.'' Several Duke programs are ranked as some of the highest in the country. Top-ten nationally ranked programs for 2022 include
surgery Surgery ''cheirourgikē'' (composed of χείρ, "hand", and ἔργον, "work"), via la, chirurgiae, meaning "hand work". is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pa ...
(ranked #2),
anesthesia Anesthesia is a state of controlled, temporary loss of sensation or awareness that is induced for medical or veterinary purposes. It may include some or all of analgesia (relief from or prevention of pain), paralysis (muscle relaxation), ...
(ranked #4), internal medicine (ranked #5),
radiology Radiology ( ) is the medical discipline that uses medical imaging to diagnose diseases and guide their treatment, within the bodies of humans and other animals. It began with radiography (which is why its name has a root referring to radiat ...
(ranked #6),
pediatrics Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...
(ranked #7), obstetrics/gynecology (ranked #8), and
psychiatry Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry. Initial p ...
(ranked #10). Historically, the Duke University School of Medicine consistently ranks in the top ten medical schools in the United States. Admission to the school's medical degree program is highly competitive, with more than 7,500 applicants for approximately 115 openings each year. The school ranks very highly among its peers in the diversity of its medical students. Among the draws of the program is its unique curriculum, which gives students contact with patients a year earlier than at most other medical schools and includes an entire year devoted to independent research. Many students use the year to begin studies toward a second degree; nearly one-quarter earn a PhD, Master of Science in Global Health (MScGH), MBA, JD, or master's degree in addition to an MD. About 19.5 percent are enrolled in Duke's Medical Scientist Training Program, which leads to both an MD and a
PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...
in health-related basic biomedical or social science research. Created to train highly qualified students as physician-scientists, the Duke program is the fourth oldest in the country, has been continuously funded by the NIH for almost 50 years, and is highly regarded nationally. Duke University School of Medicine also includes PhD programs in the basic sciences and education and training programs in other health professions, including the top-ranked Physician Assistant and Doctor of Physical Therapy programs, a Primary Care Leadership Track, Master of Biomedical Sciences, MS and PhD in Biostatistics, and Master of Management in Clinical Informatics.


Collaboration with the National University of Singapore

Duke opened a medical school collaboration with the
National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in th ...
. The Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School graduated their first class in 2011. The curriculum is similar in structure though the Duke-NUS campus focuses heavily on their team-based learning method called TeamLEAD (Learn, Engage, Apply, Develop).


Affiliated research institutions

*The Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) performs all aspects of clinical research ranging from: Phase I through Phase IV
clinical trials Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel vaccines, drugs, dieta ...
;
outcomes research Outcomes research is a branch of public health research which studies the end results ( outcomes) of the structure and processes of the health care system on the health and well-being of patients and populations. According to one medical outcomes an ...
; registries of more than 100,000 patients; clinical research networks such as the
Pediatric Trials Network The Pediatric Trials Network (PTN) is a consortium of clinical research sites located around the United States that are cooperating in the design and conduct of clinical trials to improve health care for young patients. The network is sponsored by t ...
; and economic and quality of life studies in populations spanning more than 20 therapeutic areas. It is home to the Duke Databank for Cardiovascular Diseases, the largest and oldest institutional cardiovascular database in the world, which continues to inform clinical decision-making 40 years after its founding. * The Duke Global Health Institute (DGHI). * The Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities, and History of Medicine, the Center for Chemical Biology, and the Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy. *Sarah W. Stedman Nutrition and Metabolism Center. * The Duke Human Vaccine Institute (DHVI). * The Duke Cancer Institute. * The Duke Heart Center. * The Duke Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development''. *Duke Integrative Medicine attempts to examine and quantify the treatment of chronic heart failure.


Notable faculty and alumni

* William H. Muller Jr., first heart surgeon to implant an artificial aortic valve. Vice President and Head of the Department of Surgery for the University of Virginia Health System; Past President of the
American College of Surgeons The American College of Surgeons is an educational association of surgeons created in 1913.American College of Surgeons Online "What is the American College of Surgeons?"/ref> See also *American College of Physicians The American College o ...
* David H. Adams, heart valve surgery and
mitral valve repair Mitral valve repair is a cardiac surgery procedure performed by cardiac surgeons to treat stenosis (narrowing) or regurgitation (leakage) of the mitral valve. The mitral valve is the "inflow valve" for the left side of the heart. Blood flows ...
* Raymond Delacy Adams, neurologist and Fellow of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
* Lenox Baker, physician and public servant *
Charles E. Brady Jr. Charles Eldon Brady Jr. (August 12, 1951 – July 23, 2006) was an American physician, a captain in the United States Navy and a NASA astronaut. He spent 16 days in space on the Space Shuttle's STS-78 flight in 1996. Brady specialized in spo ...
, astronaut *
Julie Story Byerley Julie Story Byerley () is an American physician who is known as a leader in the fields of medical education and pediatrics. Byerley has served as a clinical professor and Vice Dean for Education for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hi ...
,
Pediatrician Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...
and Vice Dean for Education for the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United State ...
School of Medicine * Robert Califf, former commissioner at the
Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food ...
* George Eisenbarth, diabetologist and winnder of the
Banting Medal The Banting Medal, officially the Banting Medal for Scientific Achievement, is an annual award conferred by the American Diabetes Association (ADA), which is the highest award of ADA. Inaugurated in 1941, the prize is given in memory of Sir Frederic ...
* Irwin Fridovich, biochemist who discovered
superoxide dismutase Superoxide dismutase (SOD, ) is an enzyme that alternately catalyzes the dismutation (or partitioning) of the superoxide () radical into ordinary molecular oxygen (O2) and hydrogen peroxide (). Superoxide is produced as a by-product of oxygen ...
* Eugene Gu, fetal tissue researcher and CEO of Ganogen Research Institute *
Philip Handler Philip Handler (August 13, 1917 – December 29, 1981) was an American nutritionist, and biochemist. He was President of the United States National Academy of Sciences for two terms from 1969 to 1981. He was also a recipient of the National Med ...
, biochemist and twice president of the
National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nat ...
* Abigail Johnston, Olympic silver medalist in diving, competed in the 2012 games as a Duke undergraduate and the 2016 games while a Duke medical student * John G. Kelton, hematologist and Dean of the
McMaster University Medical School The Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, known as the McMaster University School of Medicine prior to 2004, is the medical school of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It is operated by the McMaster Faculty of Health Science ...
and
McMaster Faculty of Health Sciences The McMaster Faculty of Health Sciences is one of six faculties at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The faculty was established in 1974 to oversee the School of Nursing, the School of Medicine, and Graduate programs in health ...
, developed a diagnostic test for
heparin-induced thrombocytopenia Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is the development of thrombocytopenia (a low platelet count), due to the administration of various forms of heparin, an anticoagulant. HIT predisposes to thrombosis (the abnormal formation of blood clots ...
* Samuel Katz, developer of measles vaccine and recipient of the
Albert B. Sabin Gold Medal Since 1994, the Albert B. Sabin Gold Medal has been awarded annually by the Sabin Vaccine Institute in recognition of work in the field of vaccinology or a complementary field. It is in commemoration of the pioneering work of Albert B. Sabin. Rec ...
* Robert Lefkowitz, physician and biochemist who received the National Medal of Science and the 2012
Nobel Prize in Chemistry ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then "M ...
* Sarah Lisanby, Transcranial magnetic stimulation pioneer and chair of Duke's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences *
Paul Modrich Paul Lawrence Modrich (born June 13, 1946) is an American biochemist, James B. Duke Professor of Biochemistry at Duke University and Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He is known for his research on DNA mismatch repair. Modri ...
, biochemist and member of the
National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nat ...
who received the 2015
Nobel Prize in Chemistry ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then "M ...
*
Ron Paul Ronald Ernest Paul (born August 20, 1935) is an American author, activist, physician and retired politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1976 to 1977 and again from 1979 to 1985, as we ...
, physician ( OB/GYN), United States Congressman from
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
*
Rand Paul Randal Howard Paul (born January 7, 1963) is an American physician and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, U.S. senator from Kentucky since 2011. A member of the Republican Party (Un ...
, surgeon (
ophthalmologist Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a med ...
),
United States Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...
from
Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...
and candidate for the US presidential election in 2016 * Jane S. Richardson, biochemist and innovator of ribbon drawings as well as winner of a
MacArthur Award The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 indi ...
*
Peter Agre Peter Agre (born January 30, 1949) is an American physician, Nobel Laureate, and molecular biologist, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and director ...
, physician and molecular biologist who received the 2003
Nobel Prize in Chemistry ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then "M ...
* Brian Kobilka, physician and biochemist who received the 2012
Nobel Prize in Chemistry ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then "M ...
* James Young, USN Captain,
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
physician to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson * David Sabiston, Chairman of Surgery, author of a widely-used textbook of surgery, performed a seminal procedure that paved the way for modern coronary-bypass surgery, grafting a vein from a patient's leg to bypass a blocked coronary artery during open-heart surgery. Legendary surgical educator *
James Wyngaarden James Barnes Wyngaarden (October 19, 1924 – June 14, 2019) was an American physician, researcher and academic administrator. He was a co-editor of '' Cecil Textbook of Medicine'', one of the leading internal medicine texts, and served as dire ...
, Chairman of Internal Medicine, long-time editor of ''Cecil's Textbook of Medicine'' and also ''The Metabolic Basis of Inherited Disease,'' Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), cofounder of
Human Genome Project The Human Genome Project (HGP) was an international scientific research project with the goal of determining the base pairs that make up human DNA, and of identifying, mapping and sequencing all of the genes of the human genome from both ...
* Eugene Stead, Chairman of Internal Medicine. His work paved way for development of
cardiac catheterization Cardiac catheterization (heart cath) is the insertion of a catheter into a chamber or vessel of the heart. This is done both for diagnostic and interventional purposes. A common example of cardiac catheterization is coronary catheterization th ...
, and he oversaw development of nation's first Physician's Assistant (PA) program * Peter B. Cotton, Professor of Medicine. British gastroenterologist best known for his advancement in digestive disease, pioneering and naming the ERCP procedure. * Nancy C. Andrews, pioneer in iron homeostasis and dean of Duke University School of Medicine * Sue Jinks-Robertson, Professor of Genetics and Microbiology, studying DNA damage and repair. Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology,
American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...
, and the
National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nat ...
.


References


External links

* {{Authority control Educational institutions established in 1930 Medicine, School of Medical schools in North Carolina 1930 establishments in North Carolina