University at BuffaloSchool of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, also known as Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, is a medical school in the city of Buffalo, New York at the University at Buffalo. Founded in 1846, it is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is the only medical school in Buffalo. It offers degrees in various field such as Biomedical Sciences undergraduate majors, Biotechnical and Clinical, Laboratory Sciences, Master's programs in Biomedical Sciences, PhD programs in Biomedical Sciences, MD program, Graduate Medical Education residency program, Continuing Medical Education, Postdoctoral programs, as well as Dual-degree programs.
History
The school was established by U.S. President Millard Fillmore in 1846. Buffalo was a boomtown on the Erie Canal and the gateway to the West. Leading citizens — primarily physicians and lawyers — proposed that an institution of higher learning be established, which led to the founding of the private, nonsectarian University of Buffalo. The Medical School, or Medical Department, as it was called, was the first decanal unit within the university, and 40 years passed before other departments were added. Medical classes began February 24, 1847, with an enrollment of 66 students. The medical school's first permanent location was next to Buffalo General Hospital in downtown Buffalo. In 1893, the school relocated to High Street in the city, where it remained until 1953, when it moved to the university's South Campus. It moved in 2017 to a new campus High Street and Main Streets, again adjacent to the Buffalo General Hospital complex. In 1962, University of Buffalo merged with the State University of New York system. The Medical School then became the School of Medicine, State University of New York at Buffalo. Throughout its history, the university has not owned or operated a teaching hospital, but instead has instructed students in affiliated hospitals throughout the city. Today's network of teaching affiliations was formalized in 1983 as the Graduate Medical Dental Education Consortium of Buffalo. In 2015, the school's name was changed to Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo in response to a $30 million donation by the Jacobs family. The Jacobs family includes Jeremy Jacobs, the owner of the Boston Bruins. Before that, in 1987, the school's name was changed to the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences in recognition of the basic sciences underpinning medical knowledge. Today, the school enrolls 180 medical students each year, 133 PhD students, 28 MD/PhD students, 71 master's students and 435 undergraduates. Currently, the school is located at the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus/University at Buffalo's downtown campus as of the Spring of 2018.
Hospital and research affiliations
Unlike many other medical schools, UB does not own or operate its own medical center. Rather it has affiliations with almost every major hospital in the city of Buffalo. These include:
John R. Oishei Children's Hospital-This regional center for specialized pediatric and women's health care has achieved national recognition and is ranked among the top 20 pediatric hospitals in the nation by U.S. News and World Report.
DeGraff Memorial Hospital-A 70-bed community hospital primarily serving the needs of patients in towns north of Buffalo.
Erie County Medical Center-This 550-bed medical center serves as a regional center for trauma, burns, rehabilitation and cardiac care.
Veterans Affairs Western New York Healthcare System-The Buffalo VA Medical Center provides inpatient and outpatient programs. It is the main referral center for cardiac surgery, cardiology and comprehensive cancer care for Western New York and northern Pennsylvania.
Mercy Hospital of Buffalo-Mercy Hospital is a Center of Excellence for Stroke and Cardiac Care. It recently revamped emergency department is a model for emergency health-care treatment.
U.S. News and World Report ranked the School of Medicine 67th in the Best Research category and 77th in the Primary Care category nationally. SUNY Buffalo is the best ranked public medical school in New York in the primary care category for 2018.
