In 1889, Simeon Bell, MD, donated land and money to the state of Kansas for a medical school in Rosedale, a suburb just south of Kansas City, Kansas. Dr. Bell's intent was to build a teaching hospital so that the University of Kansas could provide medical education for future physicians. The school and Bell Memorial Hospital, named after his wife Eleanor, moved to its present location in Kansas City, Kansas in 1924. KU graduated 57 students from the medical school's first class in 1906. Today, the school annually enrolls 175 students in its four-year MD program.
Students spend their first two years, the pre-clinical phase, in Kansas City.
The remaining two years, the clinical phase, are completed at either the KUMC campus in Kansas City or at the school's branch clinical campus in Wichita. After graduation, students enter into residency training programs all over the country. The faculty and staff of the KU School of Medicine in Kansas City and Wichita are dedicated to preparing their students for the future of medicine by providing innovative education and training needed to practice in today's ever-changing health care delivery system.