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General Information

The School of Medicine is a part of the University of Colorado Denver, located in Denver and Aurora, CO. The University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus includes the schools of Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing, Pharmacy, the Colorado School of Public Health, and the Graduate school. Basic science and clinical opportunities for the medical students are located throughout the Denver area in a number of hospitals and clinics. Rural health experiences are found throughout the state of Colorado. Although no official student housing is provided, the school is located in a neighborhood with a wide range of housing choices. The Student Assistance Office provides housing information.

The medical school is home to approximately 1,925 fulltime and 3,000 volunteer or part time faculty members. In addition to educating students and participating in research, the faculty members assume considerable responsibility for patient care. Opportunities for student research and a variety of extracurricular activities are available.

Our Beginnings

The University of Colorado Denver, School of Medicine began in 1883 in Boulder, Colorado. Two professors, two instructors, two rooms, two students, no hospital and no library constituted the start.  After a couple of years, a 30 bed hospital was constructed for the princely sum of $6,000.  From 1883 to the early 1900’s, there were three other medical schools in the state, all located in Denver.  Competition was keen for both students and money.  The other medical schools were the University of Denver Medical School, the Gross Medical School and Denver Homeopathic medical school.  The Homeopathic medical school subsequently went out of business, and Gross Medical School and the University of Denver medical school combined.  In the early 1900’s when Abraham Flexner did his famous study of the quality of medical schools at that time, he recommended that the University of Denver and Gross Medical School join the University of Colorado as the single medical school in the state.  In 1910, the University Of Colorado School Of Medicine was formed.  In 1925, the major hospital for the School of Medicine was completed at 9th and Colorado campus, where it established itself as a world class medical center. 

In the 1990’s the Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in Aurora, Colorado was slated to close, and the 225 acres were offered to the University of Colorado for the sum of $1.00.  Two conditions had to be met to consummate the deal – Building 500; the original site of the Fitzsimons Army Medical Center had to be retained, as a historic site.  President Dwight Eisenhower, the 34th U. S. President spent many months convalescing on the 8th floor, following a heart attack while visiting his wife’s family in Denver. The Denver Historical Society provided $60,000 to refurbish the 8th floor of Building 500 to its original condition. The second condition was that Ursula Street going out to Colfax Avenue could not be obstructed, such that all construction occurred either East or West of Ursula. 

Our Reputation

The University of Colorado Denver, School of Medicine is a premier institution, ranking highly among US medical schools for its excellence in research, productivity of faculty and primary care. With our hospital partners, we rank 4th among all public medical schools for holding of NIH dollars, and when compared to the other 129 Association of American Medical Colleges listing of US medical schools, we rank 22nd in NIH support with a total of $280 million dollars. With added support from other sources outside of NIH, the institutions grant holdings total more than $400 million. In a 2007 publication entitled Academic Analytics, the University of Colorado Denver, School of Medicine was ranked among the most productive in the US.  From assessing 375 institutions across the US, Academic Analytics noted that Colorado ranked in the top 10 in six disciplines: Structural biology, Oncology and Cancer Biology, Biomedical Sciences, Developmental Biology, Human Genetics and Toxicology.

As the only allopathic medical school in the state, Colorado provides physicians for the state and nation.  Colorado faculty members boast of several major break-through events in science and health care:  Dr. Tom Starzl, a pioneering surgeon, initially did renal transplants before he accomplished the first liver transplant in the world.  He subsequently moved to Pittsburgh in the early 1980s to continue his distinguished career.  Dr. Henry Kempe from the Department of Pediatrics in the 1950’s and 1960’s has taken what was initially described as “brittle bone” disease and correctly identified it as Battered Child Syndrome. The Pediatrics Department has become nationally and internationally known for the work on this syndrome.  Dr. Henry Claman, a distinguished immunologist first discovered T cells being pre-programmed to unseen antigens. In the late 80’s, Dr. Kurt Freed from the Department of Medicine was the first to utilize fetal dopamine cell transplants in Parkinson’s patients.  The Barbara Davis Center, a renowned Diabetes clinical and research center was the first to isolate T cells that cause diabetes when transferred into mice.