The predecessor of Southern Medical University was the First Military Medical University of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. It was founded in 1951 and was designated as a national key university in 1979. In August 2004, it was transferred to Guangdong Province as a whole and was renamed Southern Medical University. The school is the only medical school among the key construction universities of high-level universities in Guangdong Province. It is the first batch of universities in the country and the only "ministries, commissions and provinces" in Guangdong Province to jointly establish the eight-year undergraduate, master, doctorate program in clinical medicine. One of the eight universities in the country, the first batch of pilot universities for the education and training program for outstanding doctors in the country.