University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) is a public health sciences university in Little Rock, Arkansas. It is part of the University of Arkansas System and consists of six colleges, seven institutes, several research centers, a statewide network of community education centers, and the UAMS Medical Center. History In 1879, eight physicians, led by P.O. Hooper of Little Rock, each invested $625 to secure a charter for a medical school from Arkansas Industrial University (which later became the University of Arkansas). They purchased the Sperindio Restaurant and Hotel building on West Second Street in Little Rock for $5,000 to house the school, which opened on Oct. 7, 1879 with 22 students. In 1880, Dr. Tom Pinson was the first graduate of the medical school. In 1935, the medical school was moved to a new building next to the City Hospital in Little Rock. The six-story, $450,000 structure gave the School of Medicine a boost in clinical instruction of medical students. The hospital's physicians were members of the school's teaching faculty. The medical school building now houses the University of Arkansas at Little Rock's William H. Bowen School of Law; the hospital building was torn down and became the law school's parking lot. In 1950, a tract of land on West Markham Street was formally deeded to the university by the Arkansas State Hospital, a state-owned psychiatric hospital. In 1951, the School of Pharmacy was established making it a medical sciences campus, followed in 1953 by the School of Nursing. In 1956, the university, then known as University of Arkansas Medical Center (UAMC), moved to the West Markham campus where it is currently. The university also assumed control of City Hospital, which moved with it; it became known as University Hospital, and more recently UAMS Medical Center. In 1970, the School of Health Related Professions was approved by the University of Arkansas System Board of Trustees.