 stanford university school of medicine is the medical school of stanford university. it is located at stanford university medical center in stanford, california. it is the successor to the medical department of the university of the pacific, founded in san francisco in 1858 and later named cooper medical college; the medical school was acquired by stanford in 1908. due to this descent it ranks as the oldest medical school in the western united states. the medical school moved to the stanford campus near palo alto, california in 1959. clinical rotations occur at several hospital sites. in addition to the stanford university medical center (stanford hospital and clinics) and lucile packard children's hospital, stanford has formal affiliations with kaiser permanente, santa clara valley medical center and the va palo alto health care system. stanford medical students also manage two free clinics: arbor free clinic in menlo park and pacific free clinic in san jose. stanford is a cutting-edge center for translational and biomedical research (both basic science and clinical) and emphasizes medical innovation, novel methods, discoveries, and interventions in its integrated curriculum. the school of medicine also has a physician assistant (pa) program that was added in 1971, called the primary care associate program. it was one of the first accredited physician assistant programs in california. it is offered in association with foothill college. the program has graduated more than 1,300 physician assistants since its opening. most graduates fulfill the program's mission of serving underserved medical communities. ==mission== the school of medicine's mission is to be a premier research-intensive medical school that improves health through leadership, diversity, collaborative discoveries and innovations in patient care, education and research. ==rankings and admissions== in the 2014 [[u.
1908_establishments_in_California Educational_institutions_established_in_1908 Schools_of_medicine_in_California Stanford_University Stanford_University_medicine Stanford_University_schools