An Introduction to UMass Medical School

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts' first and only public medical school, the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) was founded in 1962 to provide affordable, high-quality medical education to state residents and to increase the number of primary care physicians practicing in underserved areas of the state. More than 40 years later, UMMS retains the pioneering spirit that attracted its founding faculty and students, even as it has matured to become one of the nation's top 50 medical schools.

UMMS, located in Worcester, is one of five University of Massachusetts campuses, and one of about 28 free-standing, university-based academic health science centers in the U.S. Ranked fourth in the nation in primary care education in the 2006 U.S.News & World Report's “America's Best Graduate Schools,” UMMS comprises three schools - the School of Medicine, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and the Graduate School of Nursing. UMass Memorial Health Care, the largest health care provider in Central Massachusetts, is the clinical partner of UMMS.

Beyond its core mission of distinction in health sciences education, UMMS has exploded onto the national scene as a major center for research, and in the past four decades, UMMS researchers have made pivotal advances in HIV, cancer, diabetes, infectious disease, and in understanding the molecular basis of disease. Research conducted at UMMS also plays an important role in the institution's public service: through its Commonwealth Medicine programs, UMMS collaborates with public agencies to improve access and delivery of health care to at-risk and uninsured populations by leveraging the institution's research, academic, management and clinical resources.

Through its commitment to education, research and public service, UMMS has distinguished itself among medical schools across the nation. A local, regional and statewide health resource, the institution supports the educational and service programs in health care throughout the commonwealth. 

UMass Milestones

1962: Legislation establishes University of Massachusetts Medical School
1970: First medical students begin classes in Shaw Building
1974: First class graduates 16 MDs
1979: PhD program begins
1986: Graduate School of Nursing opens
1986: PhD program becomes Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
1994: Graduate School of Nursing initiates PhD program
1998: UMass Clinical System and Memorial Health Care merge to form
           UMass Memorial Health Care
2001: Research Laboratory Building opens
2002: Campus Modernization begins on the University Campus
2004: Graduate Entry Pathway Program established at the Graduate School of Nursing
2005: PhD Program in Clinical & Population Health Research established at the
           Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
2005: UMass Medical School Massachusetts Biologic Laboratories open
           new manufacturing and filling facility in Mattapan
2006: Craig Mello, PhD, Blais University Chair in Molecular Medicine
           and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, is awarded the Medical School's
           first Nobel Prize. Dr. Mello shared the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
           with Andrew Fire, PhD, of Stanford University, for their discoveries related
           to RNA interference.