The Wrap by Michigan Medicine Headlines · Michigan Medicine Podcast Network

The Wrap - 175th anniversary of the U-M Medical School

·39 min·2 clips

Alpheus Tucker was literally erased from the class register after being driven out of the medical school.

Dan Ellman and Kara Gavin introduce the episode as a look back at the 175th anniversary of the University of Michigan Medical School. They also note that the year includes two anniversaries, though the conversation stays focused on the medical school’s long history. Dr. Joel Howell joins them as the guest historian. He is an emeritus professor of internal medicine and of history, and he has written a book about the school’s history. The hosts start by asking him to explain how the school came to be. He begins with Michigan becoming a state in 1837. He then explains that one of the legislature’s first acts was to place the university in Ann Arbor. Another early decision was to establish a medical school. That choice mattered because many places at the time still lacked the medical infrastructure that later became standard. The conversation moves through a series of historical changes. Howell describes how developments that now seem obvious once felt remarkable. Electric light is one example. X-rays are another. He uses those examples to show how quickly innovation can become ordinary once it works. The hosts also talk about women in medicine. They note that what once seemed unusual is now normal in hospital life. Howell connects that change to the broader way medicine has evolved over time. The episode also returns to the role of science in the school’s growth. Howell says the school was among a very small number of institutions praised by Flexner for excellence. Scientific laboratories, especially bacteriology, were part of that distinction. State funding helped make that possible. The school was not dependent only on student tuition, which gave it room to invest in science. The conversation then turns to history that is more complicated than the familiar headline version. The hosts raise the question of the first African-American graduate. Howell explains that W. Henry Fitzbutler is often credited with that distinction. The discussion suggests that the historical record carries more nuance than a simple list of firsts can hold. The tone stays reflective rather than celebratory for its own sake. The episode keeps asking how people at the time understood change as it was happening. Howell points out that the people living through those decades did not know what was coming next. That uncertainty gives the history its texture. It also helps the episode connect the school’s story to the larger evolution of medicine and care. The hosts close by thanking Howell for the conversation and thanking listeners and viewers for their work on behalf of patients, families, and one another.

As heard by us

A steady look at how a medical school's past became part of everyday medicine.

The Wrap uses the University of Michigan Medical School's 175th anniversary as a clear starting point, with Dr. Joel Howell guiding the discussion in a way that fits his background in the school's history.

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A history episode on the University of Michigan Medical School's 175th anniversary, with Dr. Joel Howell.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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