Rush Medical College

Rush Medical College (often referred to simply as "Rush") is the medical school of Rush University, a private university in Chicago, Illinois. Rush Medical College was chartered in 1837, twelve days before the city of Chicago was chartered, and opened with 22 students on December 4, 1843. Its founder, Dr. Daniel Brainard, named the school in honor of Dr. Benjamin Rush, the only physician with medical school training to sign the Declaration of Independence and would later teach Meriwether Lewis the basics medical skills for his expedition with William Clark to the Pacific Northwest. Dr. Rush was also known as the 'Father of American Psychiatry'.

During its first century of operation, more than 10,000 physicians received their training at Rush Medical College; a "Rush Doctor" was a highly-prized commodity in the American West of the 19th century. Rush Medical College was affiliated with the University of Chicago from 1898 until 1942. With the onset of World War II, the medical college temporarily suspended its educational program, though it continued its corporate existence. Its faculty continued undergraduate and graduate teaching of medicine and the biological sciences as members of the faculty of the University of Illinois. The charter of the medical college was reactivated in 1969 when it became part of Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, which changed its name to Rush University Medical Center to reflect the important role education and research play in its patient care mission. In 1971, Rush Medical College reopened with a class of 66 first-year students and 33 third-year students.

Since 1972, Rush Medical College has been part of Rush University.