That a college for the education of persons for the profession might be gotten up, and that it would be well sustained, I think is more than probable, for if a school of this kind was in operation, it would be expected of dental practitioners, that they should be educated in it, or at least, those who should subsequently enter the profession.
The same object might be accomplished by the establishing of professorships of dentistry in the Medical Schools. All the branches necessary to a dental education, might be taught; and should the profession not be disposed to establish a school for their own exclusive benefit, it is to be hoped the importance of the subject may be soon so felt, as to induce the medical institutions of the country to take it up, and furnish the necessary facilities for the obtaining of as thorough an education in this, as in their own immediate profession.
Dental education followed much the same path medical education took in America. Some doctors and medical practitioners prior to, during, and soon after the Revolutionary War were comprised of either European educated or self-taught practitioners, but ultimately, the profession was still burdened by the charlatanism and quackery of individuals who were not properly trained.
The trained practitioners would take on apprentices, instructing the next generation of American-born students in private homes and public meeting rooms, and eventually establishing the first hospitals in the United States.
In Baltimore, the first hospitals, the City Almshouse and Baltimore General Dispensary were established by 1801, two years after the officially recognized founding of the Medical and Chirurgical Society of Maryland (MedChi) in 1799 by the same group of individuals.
The seal of the Medical and Chirurgical Society of Maryland. Image from the Maryland Medical and Surgical Journal, 1842.
By 1802, one of the attending physicians at the Dispensary, John Beale Davidge, began offering private courses of medical lectures in his home. Davidge would be joined by James Cocke and John Shaw, providing lectures on anatomy and midwifery (obstetrics), materia medica and physiology, and chemistry, respectively, to a small number of students among their private residences.
This period of lectures would culminate with Davidge erecting a building containing an anatomy hall for dissection of cadavers and the lectures to take place by 1807. Due to a growing public unease with the practice of dissection for anatomical study, as many believed it was related to an increase in grave robbing and generally the desecration of human bodies, shortly after Davidge’s building was complete, a mob arrived that razed the building and “rescued” the cadavers. This act spurred Davidge, his colleagues, and members of MedChi to petition the state for “founding a medical college in the city or precincts of Baltimore for the instruction of students in the different branches of medicine.”
College of Medicine of Maryland
“In no part of the union is there another place, whose local advantages are superior to host of Baltimore, for the encouragement of such a seminary…From the central situation of Baltimore, in the heart of the union, connected with a great part of it by navigable waters, or by roads which are every day more frequented, it cannot fail to be an eligible residence for such young men as travel from home to complete their education.” – Baltimore Medical & Physical Recorder, No. 1, 1808.
Recognizing the limitations of traditional apprenticeships and private lectures, Davidge, Cocke, and Shaw sought to formalize medical education in Maryland by requesting a charter from the state legislature.
With the charter’s approval on December 18, 1807, the College of Medicine of Maryland became the first public university for medical education in the United States, later merging with other Baltimore colleges to become the University of Maryland in 1812.
To earn the college’s Doctor of Medicine degree, students were required to have:
- Attended each course of lectures at least once
- Frequented the classes of the college for two terms
- Be privately and publicly examined
- Printed and defended a thesis
The course of lectures included anatomy, physiology, surgery, the practice and theory of medicine, chemistry, and materia medica.
Baltimore Infirmary
Click on the image above to read an announcement for the Baltimore Infirmary from the August 22, 1823, American Farmer.
In 1823, the faculty of the College of Medicine of Maryland—now the University of Maryland School of Medicine—established the Baltimore Infirmary, marking a pivotal moment in American medical education.
This institution became the first hospital in the United States built by a medical school specifically for clinical instruction, integrating structured hands-on patient care into the medical curriculum.
The Infirmary provided free or reduced-cost care to Baltimore’s underserved populations, offering students exposure to a diverse range of medical conditions. As noted in the 1833 Catalogue of the Medical Faculty of the University of Maryland, the Infirmary was “intended for the reception of such patients as may be proper subjects for clinical lectures, and for the accommodation of the sick poor.” This approach not only enhanced medical education but also served the community.
Further emphasizing the institution’s commitment to practical training, the 1833 catalogue also stated: “The Infirmary is open at all times to the students, who are thus enabled to observe the progress of disease, and the effects of remedies, under the direction of the Professors.” This continuous access allowed students to engage deeply with patient care, fostering a more comprehensive understanding of medical practice.
The establishment of the Baltimore Infirmary set a precedent for medical schools nationwide, demonstrating the value of integrating structured clinical experiences into medical education. This model emphasized the importance of experiential learning, shaping the future of health care professional training in the United States, including the model for dental education only a few years later.
An excerpt from A Complete View of Baltimore by Charles Varle, 1833
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The Dr. Samuel D. Harris National Museum of Dentistry is an auxiliary enterprise of the University of Maryland, School of Dentistry at the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
