Indiana University School of Medicine: A Leader in Medical Education and Research

The Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM), with its motto "Preparing healers. Transforming health," stands as a prominent public medical school system. Established in May 1903, it is both the undergraduate and graduate medical school of Indiana University. The principal research, educational, and medical center is located on the campus of Indiana University Indianapolis, with nine campuses throughout the state.

Overview of Indiana University School of Medicine

As the largest medical school in the United States, IUSM had 1,448 MD students, 191 PhD students, and 1,438 residents and fellows in the academic year 2024-25. The school offers many joint degree programs, including an MD/PhD Medical Scientist Training Program. It has partnerships with Purdue University's Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, other Indiana University system schools, and various in-state external institutions.

Historical Context

The origins of IUSM trace back to March 1903, when William Lowe Bryan, the tenth president of IU, proposed the formation of a department of medicine at IU Bloomington to the university trustees. The department was approved and established in May of the same year. In addition to IUSM in Bloomington, IU's leaders wanted to locate medical training facilities in Indianapolis. The current school in Indianapolis is a combination of many earlier medical colleges.

The 19th and early 20th centuries saw numerous short-lived medical schools established in Indiana, mostly in Indianapolis, with the majority lasting less than a decade. This was mostly attributable to financial reasons and because most of medical education at this time was taught through an apprenticeship system and through private, for-profit schools. University-based schools with access to state funding and endowments became the standard model for medical education later on in the 1890s, with Johns Hopkins University leading the way.

The first Indiana school was established in 1833 as the Christian College at New Albany. It was largely regarded as a fraudulent diploma mill, and offered courses, but not degrees, in medicine, closing the same year. The first successful school was the private LaPorte University School of Medicine (LPSM) founded in 1841. The first proprietary school was the Indiana Central Medical College (ICMC) founded in Indianapolis in 1849; it served as the medical department of Indiana Asbury University, today known as DePauw University. John Stough Bobbs, a pioneer local physician, served as the ICMC's dean. LPSM was renamed to the Indiana Medical College in 1846 and would ultimately merge into the ICMC in 1851; the ICMC would itself close in 1852.

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In 1869, another school, also named the Indiana Medical College (IMC), was launched by Bobbs and colleagues as an outgrowth of the Indianapolis Academy of Medicine. Initial classes were held in the Old Indiana Statehouse; as the building was actively falling apart around this time, classes were soon moved to a building at the northwest corner of Delaware and Court streets. Clinical classes were taught at the Indianapolis City Hospital and various other hospitals and clinics around the city.

In 1874, the College of Physicians and Surgeons opened in Indianapolis as a breakaway school from the Indiana Medical College following a dispute over admissions policies; the schools reunited as the Medical College of Indiana (MCI) and associated with Butler University in 1878. The MCI's building was located at the northeast corner of South Pennsylvania and East Maryland streets; it was destroyed by a fire in 1894. Following a bequest by physician William Lomax (a graduate of LPSM), a new medical education building named in Lomax's honor was constructed in 1895 at 212 North Senate Ave. It was razed in 1960 for the construction of the Indiana Government Center North, surviving both extensive water damage in 1916 and fire damage in 1919.

Two more medical schools opened in 1879: the Indianapolis-based Central College of Physicians and Surgeons (CCPS) and the Fort Wayne College of Medicine (FWCM). In 1896, the MCI, Butler, and the Indiana Law School formed a loose collection of colleges named the University of Indianapolis (U of I), not related to the modern university of the same name. The Indiana Dental College joined U of I in 1904. Plans existed to create a central campus and expand the number of component colleges but they never materialized, and thus U of I remained an amorphous entity.

While negotiations were ongoing between IU and the Medical College of Indiana, representatives from the Central College of Physicians and Surgeons approached Purdue University's medical department in West Lafayette, which had been established sometime prior to 1895, to arrange a similar union. The Purdue trustees declined the offer, not wanting to interfere with the concurrent negotiations between IU and the MCI. In May 1905, the MCI submitted the same proposal ("…to give its property and assets of an appraised value of $100,000 to the University, and to accompany the gift by its good will and the gratuitous services of its faculty; the motive being to permanently establish a medical college of high order in connection with an educational institution of good standing.") that had failed ratification with IU to Purdue's trustees.

The trustees took the proposal into consideration, and were "convinced that the conditions were unusually favorable to the consummation of a union of interests where all previous efforts had failed, and to the inauguration of a progressive educational movement of great value to the State". On September 25, 1905, the trustees of the CCPS voted to suspend operations and to transfer the students, alumni, personal property, and funds of the college to the Purdue School of Medicine. Later on October 2, the Fort Wayne College of Medicine voted to likewise merge with the Purdue School of Medicine and transfer personnel and equipment to Indianapolis.

The Purdue School of Medicine operated out of the former MCI's facilities (the Lomax Building) at 212 North Senate Avenue in Indianapolis (the northwest corner of Market Street), in the immediate vicinity of the Indiana Statehouse. The building that housed the CCPS was sold. In May 1906, 122 students received medical degrees from Purdue University and successfully passed the examination of the State Board of Medical Registration. In the spring of 1907, Purdue graduated 68 men and four women; in that class was Arett C.

The founding of the Purdue-controlled consolidated medical school in 1905 triggered a debate over which state university, IU or Purdue, had the legal authority to establish a state-supported, four-year medical school in Indianapolis. IU believed that under the legislative act that elevated Indiana College to a university on February 15, 1838, it had the sole authorization to provide state-supported instruction in medicine; but, the development of a medical school had been delayed due to a lack of sufficient funding.

A legal opinion published by a W. H. H. The building that was sold and had housed the former CCPS would eventually come under the ownership of IU supporters, who would establish a separate medical school, the State College of Physicians and Surgeons (SCPS), there in 1906. Clinical faculty were recruited from those unhappy with the arrangement with Purdue. This school offered clinical instructions to IU Bloomington's third- and fourth-year medical students. The SCPS enrolled 109 students in September 1906. In August 1907, the IU board of trustees agreed to a merger of the IU School of Medicine in Bloomington with the SCPS in Indianapolis but agreed to take financial responsibility only for the school's facilities in Monroe County.

To resolve their ongoing dispute, the leaders of IU and Purdue, along with each of their supporters, sought approval from the Indiana General Assembly to operate their own schools of medicine in Marion County, with the 1907 legislative session hearing proposals from both IU and Purdue to operate separate schools. Divided over competing loyalties to IU or Purdue (the state's largest public schools and historic rivals), legislators debated for months, with neither bill being passed. Eventually, Purdue's president, Winthrop E.

Following Indiana University's near-total consolidation of medical education in the state, only two proprietary schools remained, both of which would close in the following years (the Eclectic Medical College of Indiana, 1900-1908; and the Physiomedical College of Indiana, 1873-1909, which was held in high regard among contemporaries at the time). The final independent medical institution was the Valparaiso University School of Medicine (VUSM), founded in 1902 after VU's purchase of the Chicago-based American College of Medicine and Surgery, itself founded in 1901 as the Chicago Eclectic Medical College. Renamed as the Chicago College of Medicine & Surgery (CCM&S) in 1907, the CCM&S functioned as VUSM's physical facilities, clinical sites, and laboratories. In a similar arrangement to IUSM's Bloomington and Indianapolis campuses, VUSM allowed students to complete their preclinical studies in Valparaiso before transferring to the CCM&S in Chicago. After VU declared bankruptcy in 1917, the CCM&S was sold to Loyola University Chicago and would go on to become the Stritch School of Medicine. Thus, IUSM was left as the last school remaining after a tumultuous century of competition for medical education in Indiana.

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Dr. Allison Maxwell, who headed one of the former proprietary schools, agreed to serve as the first dean of the four-year IU School of Medicine in Indianapolis in April 1908; he remained as its dean until 1911. Maxwell led the fledgling school through a difficult time when financial budgets were an issue and the consolidation of IU's and Purdue's medical school faculties in Indianapolis and Bloomington was completed. The combined faculty would support the four-year medical school at Indianapolis and maintain the two-year, pre-clinical coursework at Bloomington. This arrangement continued until 1911, when only the first year of preclinical coursework would be taught in Bloomington. In addition to Maxwell, other leaders in IUSM's early history were drawn from Johns Hopkins University, including Charles P. Willis Dew Gatch became the third dean of the medical school in 1932. In 1909, Gatch invented the Gatch adjustable hospital bed, which used a crank to raise and lower the patient's head and feet. John D. VanNuys, a 1936 graduate of IUSM, became its fourth dean in 1947. Amelia R.

IUSM graduated its first class of twenty-seven students and conferred its first Doctor of Medicine degree in May 1907. The first graduation of the consolidated IU and Purdue schools of medicine took place the following year. Abraham Flexner, a renowned American educator whose work helped reform many medical schools, visited IUSM in November 1909. In its early years in Indianapolis, IUSM utilized the SCPS facilities (themselves the former CCPS facilities), erected in 1902 and located at the corner of Market Street and Senate Avenue. After the consolidation of IUSM with the SCPS and the Purdue School of Medicine in 1908, the medical school used the former Purdue School of Medicine facilities (which were the former MCI's facilities) for about ten years while it secured financing to construct new medical school buildings.

In February 1912, IU acquired property on West Michigan Street, near the Indianapolis City Hospital (the modern-day Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital), to erect the Robert W. Long Hospital. Construction on the new teaching hospital began in 1912. Although its cornerstone was laid on November 1, 1912, the Great Flood of 1913 delayed the building's opening until 1914. Long Hospital was dedicated on June 15, 1914, and admitted its first patients the following day. Also planned with the opening of Long Hospital was the creation of the IU Training School for Nurses. Originally a part of IUSM, it became its own school (the IU School of Nursing) in 1956. Emerson Hall, another early medical school building, was constructed about 200 feet (61 m) northeast of Long Hospital and completed in the fall of 1919 at a cost of $257,699. Long Hospital was considered for demolition in the 1950s and was ultimately replaced by University Hospital in 1970; the building remains in service to IU Health and IUSM as Long Hall.

The cornerstone of the Riley Hospital for Children was laid on October 7, 1923, and dedicated on October 7, 1924. The hospital, named in honor of Hoosier poet James Whitcomb Riley, was erected north of Long Hospital. The James Whitcomb Riley Association (now known as the Riley Children's Foundation) hoped to raise an initial $250,000 in funding to add to the state's appropriation. Another of the medical school's early teaching hospitals was the William H. Coleman Hospital for Women. Erected west of Long Hospital and dedicated on October 20, 1927, Coleman Hospital's total cost was about $300,000. Other early buildings erected on the medical school campus in Indianapolis included the Ball Residence for Nurses, dedicated on October 7, 1928; and Fesler Hall, built in 1939. Long Hospital received the addition of Willis D. Gatch Hall in 1938. Myers Hall was built in Bloomington in 1937 for the medical students there. The school's medical research building was expanded in 1947 with a five-year grant from the Riley Children's Foundation. The Van Nuys Medical Science Building opened in Indianapolis in 1958. The nearby Ruth Lilly Medical Library building opened in 1989. Following the opening of Van Nuys, all medical instruction was moved to Indianapolis.

Due to a projected shortage of American physicians in the early 1960s, some state politicians called for a second medical school. Rather than face competition, IU proposed the creation of a statewide medical school system under its control. IUSM ceased its consol… The Indiana School of Medicine ranked 15th among public medical schools in National Institutes of Health funding for the federal fiscal year 2024-25.

National Recognition and Rankings

The IU School of Medicine has consistently achieved high rankings and recognition for its research and academic excellence.

NIH Funding

A significant indicator of IUSM's research prowess is its success in securing funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH is the largest public funder of biomedical research in the world. In the federal fiscal year 2023, the IU School of Medicine was ranked No. 13 in NIH funding among all public medical schools in the country and No. medical schools by NIH grants awarded each federal fiscal year, according to rankings released by the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research.

In fiscal year 2025, the National Institutes of Health invested more than $230 million into Indiana University School of Medicine research, fueling the determined pursuit of new treatments, therapies and cures for diseases and conditions such as diabetes, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.

Economic Impact

According to data from a report by United for Medical Research, every $1 million in NIH funding awarded to Indiana researchers in 2022 created nearly 13 jobs, the income and other associated expenses from which generated $2.76 million in economic activity in the state. According to data from a report by United for Medical Research, every $1 million in NIH funding awarded to Indiana researchers in 2024 created nearly 10 jobs. This income and other associated expenses generated $2.69 million in economic activity in the state.

Estimating for 2025 based on that data, the IU School of Medicine's 2025 NIH funding is responsible for creating about 2,287 jobs and an estimated $627 million in annual economic activity in Indiana - more than half of the estimated total $1.09 billion in economic activity generated in Indiana from all NIH funding in the state.

Departmental Rankings

Several departments within the IU School of Medicine have achieved impressive national rankings:

The Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics.
The Department of Pediatrics.
The Department of Biostatistics and Health Data Science.
The radiology and imaging sciences and radiation oncology departments are together ranked No.
The Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.
The Department of Neurology.
The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.
The Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
The Department of Dermatology.
The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
The Department of Urology.

These rankings reflect the high quality of research and education within these departments.

U.S. News & World Report

News & World Report rankings of the best hospitals, the Indiana University Health Medical Center had seventeen nationally ranked clinical programs.

Research and Innovation

The IU School of Medicine has pioneered research in multiple specialties, including oncology, immunology, substance use, neuroscience, and endocrinology. The school is also home to the Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center, a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Key Research Areas

Indiana University School of Medicine researchers continue to tackle some of our state and nation's most-pressing health challenges, including addiction, Alzheimer's disease and diabetes.

Collaborative Culture

The NIH is the world’s largest public funder of biomedical research. The federal fiscal year ran from Oct. 1, 2024 until Sept. News & World Report. The school offers high-quality medical education, access to leading medical research and rich campus life in nine Indiana cities, including rural and urban locations consistently recognized for livability. According to the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research, the IU School of Medicine ranks No. IU Health Medical Center is where world-class expertise meets pioneering research to advance the standard of medical care. As state's only academic medical center and in partnership with Indiana University School of Medicine-one of the nation’s leading medical schools-enables patients access to groundbreaking research and innovative treatments that complement high-quality patient care. As state's only academic medical center and in partnership with Indiana University School of Medicine-one of the nation’s leading medical schools-enables patients access to groundbreaking research and innovative treatments that complement high-quality patient care.

IU SOM’s main page states, “We believe collaboration is what sparks creativity and innovation in health care.” A form of the word ‘collaboration’ appears 4 times on the main page as they speak of their efforts to provide advanced patient care through clinical partnerships and create a team-based learning environment. This all points to an ethos of cooperation and inclusion through teamwork.

Admissions and Programs

The average MCAT score needed to be accepted into the IU School of Medicine in 2015 was 512, which is slightly higher than the national average, or roughly 506.5.

MD Program

IU SOM’s MD program is designed with flexibility and depth, providing students with clinical exposure from the earliest stages of their training. The longitudinal integrated curriculum at IU SOM is how students learn to care for patients in a variety of clinical settings-urban hospitals, community clinics, and specialty centers-across Indiana. Students become a part of learning communities where they engage with others, gaining support and guidance along the way. Students also have plenty of opportunities to engage in research, with a wide array of scholarly concentrations such as public health, urban medicine, health equity, medical education, and global health. For those interested in interdisciplinary careers, IU SOM offers several dual degree programs, including an MD-MBA, MD-JD, and an MD-PhD.

Strategies for Admission

When crafting your medical school applications, it’s important that you have a thorough understanding of their admissions statistics and how those stats line up with your scores. For example, some schools will list minimum GPA and MCAT scores while others will publish the average scores of each matriculating class. Keep in mind that average scores mean there are just as many successful students above that mark as below. However, you should aim for your scores to be as close to the average for a school you’re applying to as possible.

For example, if you’re close to Indiana University’s average GPA and MCAT scores, 3.85 and 512, it may be worth applying to them as a “reach” school-a school that’s a bit beyond where you are likely to be accepted. If your scores are closer to the Marian University range of 3.76 and 501, your odds of acceptance will be greater there. The trick is to not waste time applying to too many reach schools, as this can hinder your efforts. Check the statistics for each school carefully and target the ones where you’re most likely to get an interview.

Each medical school in Indiana has core values that inform their approach to education. In your essays, you should mention experiences in your life where you’ve demonstrated those values and how you will bring them to the school’s community. Did you participate in a research project as a premed that required a high degree of cooperation? How could your extracurriculars fit into these values? Did collaboration lead to an answer or insight you hadn’t considered?

If you’re invited to interview at one of the medical schools in Indiana, you’ll certainly want to prepare answers to common questions, like “Why do you want to become a doctor?” and “Why is our school right for you?” Don’t forget that within the answers to these questions lies a golden opportunity to highlight specific aspects of the school or its mission that excite you. For example, in answering “Why is our school right for you?” at IU SOM, you could speak to how you hold teamwork in high regard and the importance of collaboration in improving the lives of others. You could also list particular facilities at IU SOM or research projects taking place there that fascinate you. Adcoms love to see that interviewees are confident and knowledgeable about the school they wish to attend. Portraying yourself as certain you not only wish to become a doctor, but do so at their university it crucial to interview success.

Adcoms read thousands of applications each year and as such, they love to see specificity in what they read. Illustrating that you have clear reasons for wanting to attend their program signals that you’ve not only done your research but that you will bring value to their student body in more ways than simply becoming a doctor. For instance, IU SOM is well known for its research prowess. If you’re interested in researching big medical problems, this is certainly something to mention when applying. Perhaps you’ve watched a loved one deteriorate from Alzheimer’s and vowed to study the causes of the disease in the future. With the specialized expertise in neuroscience at IU SOM, and the backing of your personal experience, you can make a compelling case for admission.

Every medical school requires secondary essays, but each school has a different number of essays, different word counts, and some offer optional essays. Since you’re likely to be applying to a host of different institutions, those essays will need to be tailored to each one. Frankly, this takes a lot of time. Make a plan for how you will manage your schedule to write these essays. This can come down to personal preference, as you may want to complete applications that require more essays first and fewer essays later, or vice versa. Whichever way works for you, what’s most important is that your writing doesn’t get watered down as you go through the process. Adcoms will be able to tell in the voice and tone of your written language if you’re just not that into it. Aim to have every essay stand out and do so by carving out time to give them all the time and attention they need.

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