Golden times

1951 TO 2001: FIVE DECADES OF CHANGE Through
the years, the UCLA School of Medicine has undergone enormous
changes and progress, accompanied by what the dean calls an
unchanging commitment to excellence. SOURCE: UCLA Health Science
Communications Original graphic by JOAN ONG/Daily Bruin Web
adaptation by STEPHEN WONG/Daily bruin Senior Staff

  Photos from University Archives The inspection team after
the first inspection at the construction site of the School of
Medicine, with Stafford Warren on the extreme
right.

By Jason Ahn
Daily Bruin Contributor Seven members of the first class to
graduate from the UCLA School of Medicine joined incoming medical
students Friday to celebrate the school’s 50th anniversary.
The annual white coat ceremony, which marks the beginning of
medical training, was held in the Freud Playhouse, but the
celebration migrated to the sculpture garden where a 1950s themed
party followed. During the white coat ceremony, each incoming
medical student was called to receive their white coat, while
members of the original class looked on and reminisced about their
experiences. Over the past 50 years, the medical school, once
unknown and unranked, has not only made strides in research,
education and patient care, but also in increasing the diversity of
its students and faculty. Fifty years ago, 25 white males, one
Japanese American male and two white females comprised the first
class at the school. Today, more than half of the incoming class
are women, with a level of ethnic diversity that was virtually
unheard of 50 years ago. “The most striking change I have
witnessed is the great number of different minorities that are
represented at the medical school today,” said Earl Eldred, a
former UCLA School of Medicine professor during the ’50s, who
also attended the anniversary celebration.

  The original location of the School of Medicine.

But the medical school application process remains the same.
Getting into medical school was just as difficult 50 years ago.
“Work is the great motto for a medical student. Work makes a
dull student bright, a bright student brilliant, and a brilliant
student steady,” said Donald Mulder, a UCLA professor of
surgery, who has been involved with the medical school for the last
50 years. The pursuit of excellence by the faculty and students at
the medical school is what has helped establish it as one of the
finest in the world, said Gerald Levey, dean of the medical school
and provost of the medical sciences. “We want to be the best
in everything we do whether it is research, medical education or
patient care,” Levey said.

  People gather for the groundbreaking ceremony for the
original construction of the Center for Health Sciences.
1951-1961 The first dean of the medical school was
Stafford L. Warren, appointed in 1947. Warren appointed three of
his former associates from University of Rochester Medical School
in New York, and William Longmire Jr. from Johns Hopkins University
to the executive board. These men constituted the Founding
Five.

“Our founding dean, Stafford Warren, and the first
executive board were committed to excellence in everything they
did, whether it was patient care, teaching or research,” said
Levey. At this time, there was no hospital, no classrooms and no
buildings. Classes were held at the Religious Conference Building
on Le Conte Avenue. There was one lecture hall and five
laboratories. However, the National Institutes of Health awarded
$200,000 to the entire UCLA campus for research support, helping
the medical school expand in 1951. In 1955, the UCLA Medical Center
opened and awaited the large number of patients that they thought
would come. The attending physician, Sherman Mellinkoff, actually
had to wait for a patient to arrive. When one finally walked in
with a chest pain, he was swarmed by three private nurses, a social
worker for his family and several physicians devoted exclusively to
his care.

1961-1971 In 1962, Sherman Mellinkoff succeeded
Stafford Warren as the dean of medical school. Under his
leadership, unprecedented growth resulted. The Neuropsychiatric
Institute, the Brain Research Institute and the Marion Davies
Children’s Center opened. Construction on Jules Stein Eye
Institute and the Reed Neurological Research Center also began.
During this period, UCLA undertook a $260 million building program
that included parking structures, more classrooms, laboratories and
service buildings. By the end of the ’60s, UCLA had nearly
doubled the size of its medical school and hospital. After the
expansion, the medical school boasted 400 medical students, more
than 700 interns and residents, and about 200 master of science and
Ph.D. candidates.

1971-1981 In the early ’70s, the UCLA
School of Medicine forged a formal affiliation with the Venice
Family Clinic, which became the largest free clinic in the nation
providing health care for the impoverished. In 1973, UCLA
scientists, Michael Phelps and Edward Hoffman developed the first
functional Positron Emission Tomography system for scanning of
patients. PET allows metabolic changes in the body to be visualized
and has revolutionized many areas of care and research from brain
activity to cancer detection. In 1974, along with UC Riverside,
UCLA established the Biomedical Sciences Program. This program
enables 24 students each year to earn a bachelor of science and
medical doctor degrees in seven years instead of the usual eight.
These are the only two schools in California to offer a shortcut of
this kind to a medical doctor degree.

1981-1991 In 1981, the home of the School of
Nursing and Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center was created with
the dedication of Doris and Louis Factor Health Sciences Building.
In the same year, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome was first
described at UCLA paving the way for the school’s becoming a
world leader in AIDS research. In 1986, Kenneth I. Shine succeeded
Sherman Mellinkoff. “You don’t replace Dr. Sherman
Mellinkoff, you follow him,” Shine said at the time.

1991-2001 Medical students begin to look more
like a microcosm of the Los Angeles community, with many different
ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds. By the end of the
’90s, the research department was greatly strengthened with
more than 300 Ph.D. students and 250 postdoctoral fellows at the
school, compared to 200 master of science and Ph.D. students in the
’70s. The school also expanded its MD/Ph.D. joint degree
programs with the goal of training individuals to better understand
both the laboratory and clinical aspects of medicine. In 2000, the
NIH awarded $182,623,000 to UCLA’s School of Medicine for
medical research, almost 900 times the $200,000 award given in
1951.

2001-Future “The future of UCLA School of
Medicine is very bright,” Levey said. But there are some
challenges that need to be overcome in order for the 50-year-old
school to continue its path. “The biggest challenge has been
with finances, especially over the last 20 years since federal
support has slowly eroded,” said executive vice chancellor
Wyatt Rory Hume. The facilities need improvement, for more
classroom and research space, Levey said. Additionally, being able
to effectively utilize the modern technology in research, education
and patient care is another challenge for the future, according to
Levey. “I am very proud to be the leader of the academic
health center at its 50th anniversary,” Levey said. “I
continue to marvel at what this school and medical center has
accomplished in such a short period of time,” he added.