State University of New York Upstate Medical University
The State University of New York Upstate Medical University is a public medical school in Syracuse, New York. Founded in 1834, Upstate is the 15th oldest medical school in the United States and is the only medical school in Central New York. The university is part of the State University of New York system.
SUNY Upstate is an upper-division transfer and doctoral university with degree-granting programs in the Norton College of Medicine, College of Health Professions, College of Graduate Studies and the College of Nursing.
As one of 140 academic medical centers in the United States, the [|Upstate University Health System] serves over 1.8 million people annually. Its facilities include Upstate University Hospital, the region's only Level 1 trauma and burn center; Upstate Community Hospital; Golisano Children's Hospital; Upstate Brain & Spine Center; Upstate Cardiovascular Center; Upstate Cancer Center; and other satellite sites in Central New York. Many of Upstate's faculty provide patient care, teach, and conduct research at the University Hospital.
Part of the SUNY system since 1950, Upstate provides over 12,000 employment opportunities, making it Central New York's largest employer. The university adds more than $2.5 billion to the state economy annually. Over 8,000 SUNY Upstate alumni physicians are licensed in the United States and they generate more than $24.8 billion in economic activity and support or employ over 140,000 employees.
History
Geneva Medical College (1834–1871)
The present Upstate Medical University College of Medicine traces its ancestry to Geneva Medical College founded on September 15, 1834, as part of Geneva College, today known as Hobart and William Smith Colleges. The medical school, located in Geneva, New York, was the brainchild of Edward Cutbush, MD, who became its first dean. GMC held its first classes in February 1835, and became the first college to grant a full M.D. to a woman, Elizabeth Blackwell, in 1849.Among the early luminaries at GMC were Prof. of Surgery Frank Hastings Hamilton, pioneer in orthopedics, military surgery, and military hygiene; Stephen Smith, briefly a GMC student in 1847–1848, later an innovative sanitarian and surgeon in New York City; Lecturer in the Theory and Practice of Medicine Austin Flint, developer of modern methods of auscultation, cofounder of the University of Buffalo College of Medicine, and eventually President of the American Medical Association ; and Prof. of Anatomy and Physiology Willard Parker, who became the premier surgeon at Bellevue.
Syracuse University College of Medicine (1871–1950)
In 1871 Hobart disbanded GMC and sold its library, anatomical specimens, and other tangible assets to Dean John Towler. Acting as a private citizen, Towler donated these materials to the new Syracuse University on condition that the trustees immediately establish an AMA-approved medical school. Thus the Syracuse University College of Medicine came into being on December 4, 1871, with as dean.In 1876, Sarah Loguen Fraser became the first woman to gain an MD from the college, now known as the SUNY Upstate Medical University and is believe to be only the fourth African-American women to become a licensed physician in the United States. A portrait of Dr Sarah Loguen Fraser hangs in the Upstate Medical University's library. Other commemorations of Dr Loguen Fraser include a campus street and building named in her honor, as well as scholarship from the Norton College of Medicine.
In the latter part of the century, the SU College of Medicine was among the first to institute a graded medical instruction program, with definite pre-clinical and clinical years and organize its curriculum according to the so-called "German model," with intense scientific and especially laboratory training for students in the first two years, and rigorous clinical training on rounds thereafter.
This tradition of steadily improving educational methods, practices, and facilities placed the SU College of Medicine in a good light for the Carnegie Foundation's Flexner Report in 1910. The Flexner Report hastened the demise of many medical schools in the United States and Canada, but, as Abraham Flexner wrote, "Of the eleven medical schools now existing in the state, only the bona-fide university departments can then expect to survive: outside of New York city, Syracuse University alone has just now a chance."
Acquisition by the State University of New York (1950 – present)
In 1950, State University of New York moved to add a medical center in Syracuse and ultimately acquired the College of Medicine from Syracuse University as a part of Governor Thomas E. Dewey's vision for Upstate New York. After carrying the names "SUNY Upstate Medical Center" and "SUNY Health Science Center at Syracuse", the institution was renamed to become SUNY Upstate Medical University in 1999.The first decade of the 21st century has been one of growth: the opening of the Institute for Human Performance for basic and clinical research; the East Tower expansion of University Hospital that houses the Golisano Children's Hospital and other clinical specialties; the Upstate cancer center; the Nappi Longevity Institute; a renovated gross anatomy lab; the Setnor Academic Building with a unique clinical skills center; and the purchase of land for a new Biotechnology Research Center; Geneva Tower including expansion of facilities past Interstate 81.
Campus
The university's main campus is located in the University Hill neighborhood of Syracuse, New York flanking Interstate 81. It includes Upstate University Hospital, the Institute for Human Performance, Setnor Academic Building, Central New York Gamma Knife Center, Jacobsen Hall, Regional Oncology Center, Upstate Golisano Children's Hospital, Weiskotten Hall, the Health Sciences Library, Silverman Hall and Geneva Tower residence hall. A clinical campus in Binghamton, New York was established in 1976. Medical students spend their first two years of medical school in Syracuse, New York and then approximately a quarter of the class completes their training in Binghamton. Although the Clinical Campus is community-based, Binghamton students spend similar amounts of time in hospitals on their rotations.File:University Hill Traffic-2018-06.jpg|thumb|Upstate medical is located at the heart of downtown Syracuse, University Hill with neighboring Syracuse University and SUNY ESF.Medical students on the Syracuse campus complete their clinical years at Upstate's own University Hospital and its affiliates. Students on the Syracuse campus learn alongside doctors at the Central New York Gamma Knife Center, Upstate's Clark Burn Center, the Joslin Diabetes Center etc. In 2025, two statues honoring the universities celebrated alumni, Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States, and Sarah Loguen Fraser, one of the first African American women to earn a medical degree, were unveiled in the college courtyard.Upstate University Health System
Upstate University Hospital is a 752-bed non-profit, teaching hospital located in Syracuse, New York. Upstate University Hospital is a part of the Upstate Health System, as the flagship hospital in the system. As the hospital is a teaching hospital, it is affiliated with the Upstate Medical University. The hospital is also an American College of Surgeons verified Level 1 Trauma Center, the only in the region and one of 21 in New York. Attached to the hospital is the Upstate Golisano Children's Hospital that treats infants, children, teens, and young adults aged 0–21.In addition to being the region's only Level-I Trauma Center, Upstate includes:
- Upstate Golisano Children's Hospital
- Upstate University Hospital Community Campus
- Upstate Cancer Center
- Upstate Brain & Spine Center
- Numann Center for Breast, Endocrine & Plastic Surgery
- Upstate Level I Adult Trauma Center
- Upstate Level I Pediatric Trauma Center, 1 of only 4 in New York
- Upstate Comprehensive Stroke Center
- Clark Burn Center
- Upstate Designated AIDS Center
Academics
Upstate is an upper-division transfer and doctoral university classified among "Special Focus Four-Year: Medical Schools and Centers", 1 of only 54 in the nation specializing solely in health care careers. This means students applying to the bachelors programs take the prerequisite courses at another college and then complete their junior and senior years of the bachelor's degree at Upstate for their program of study. Students in the graduate and post-graduate programs enter having completed a bachelors and/or a master's degree prior to enrollment.Total enrollment is 1,592 students in addition to 619 residents and clinical fellows. Upstate employs 623 full-time faculty members and 1,809 part-time and voluntary faculty.
Norton College of Medicine
The Norton College of Medicine is the 2nd and 15th oldest medical school in New York state and the United States respectively. The COM offers professional and graduate degrees including the Master of Public Health and Doctor of Medicine. In addition, in conjunction with the College of Graduate Studies, the COM grants joint degrees including MD/MBA, MD/PhD and MD/MPH.The College of Medicine is the highest-funded school within the university, as a result graduates continue to do exceptionally well in matching into high quality programs for residency and match at a higher rate than the national average. Students in the College of Medicine have access to research facilities, classrooms, laboratories and clinical facilities, including the Clinical Skills Teaching Center, Surgical Simulation, Research and Training Center, Gross Anatomy lab and Research Labs at the Institute of Human Performance.All College of Medicine students spend their first two years at the Upstate Medical University campus in Syracuse. At the start of the third year, one-fourth of the class moves to the Binghamton Clinical Campus, one hour south of Syracuse for their third year, and most elect to stay for their fourth. The rest of the class remains in Syracuse.
As an academic medical center, most of the physicians providing services at Upstate University Hospital are also faculty at Upstate's College of Medicine, demonstrating an ongoing commitment to education and training. Several departments — Internal Medicine, Ophthalmology, Urology, Orthopedics and Neurosurgery, in particular — have considerable faculty and external funding dedicated to their research mission. Physicians also partner with external institutions, such as nearby Syracuse and Cornell Universities for tissue engineering and brain tumor research.
Along with the University Hospital, the College of Medicine has five clinical affiliates in Syracuse and over 400 clinical sites throughout Central New York, including:
- Syracuse Veteran Affairs Medical Center, over 650 of students, residents, interns, and fellows receive training at the Medical Center each year
- Crouse Hospital, in operation since 1887 serves more than 22,000 discharges, over 82,000 emergency services visits and more than 365,000 outpatient visits each year
- Upstate Community Hospital, has a medical staff of 460 physicians who provide out-patient and surgical services to more than 12,000 patients each year
In addition, there are more than 20 clinical departments at the college fully accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education training more than 700 resident physicians.
On December 22, 2021, the College of Medicine was renamed the Alan and Marlene Norton College of Medicine in recognition of a $25 million estate gift made by Alan and Marlene Norton. Alan Norton graduated from the College of Medicine in 1966 and then went on to complete his residency and fellowship training at the Wilmer Eye Institute of Johns Hopkins University and Massachusetts Eye and Ear.
On April 20, 2022, SUNY Upstate Medical University and Syracuse University reached a partnership to start a joint M.D./MBA program that will allow students the opportunity to earn two degrees within a five-year program.