30 YEARS
OF EXCELLENCE IN HEALTH CARE:
UA COLLEGE OF MEDICINE FOUNDING SET NEW STANDARDS FOR ARIZONA
Day One, Class One: College of Medicine Founding Dean Merlin K. DuVal, M.D., speaks to the Class of 1971 at the first class meeting. Founding faculty members also are present.
"Arizona waited a long time before making its commitment to develop an academic medical center. We suspect, and believe most would agree, that Arizona's wait was worth it. Those of us who participated in the gestation and final delivery of the center wanted it to be even more than a compliment to its vigorous and rapidly growing parent – The University of Arizona. We wanted it to be a compliment to all the people of Arizona."

Merlin K. DuVal, M.D.
Founding Dean, The University of Arizona
College of Medicine  

Putting Down Roots: Workers prepare the foundation of the College of Medicine in 1966. Classes began on Sept. 11, 1967, just as the Basic Sciences Building was completed
A
C O M M I T M E N T
T O
E X C E L L E N C E

has been a hallmark of
the College of Medicine since long before the
school accepted its first class.

Merlin K. DuVal, M.D., the College's founding dean, took on the challenge to create an academic medical center in 1963, and spent the next four years motivating supporters, legislators, faculty and friends of the College to make it a reality.

The prospect of creating a new medical school was no easy task. Bitter controversy surrounded plans to locate the school in Tucson, rather than Phoenix. Competition was so fierce, that the final decision to locate the medical school at The University of Arizona was decided by just two votes in the State Legislature.

By the time the first class began in 1967, the College's focus already was shifting to new challenges. Getting the school open was only the first obstacle to overcome on the way to developing a premier health care institution for all Arizonans.

From a handful of founding faculty and 32 students, the College of Medicine has become a major part of the Arizona Health Sciences Center. With more than 2,000 students, 600 faculty and 5,000 employees, AHSC today encompasses the College of Nursing, founded on the UA main campus in 1957, and the College of Pharmacy, founded in 1947.

Centers of Excellence
at the College of Medicine
Designated by the Arizona Board of Regents:

The Arizona Arthritis Center is dedicated to eradicating arthritis as a cause of human suffering through biomedical research, teaching and patient care.

The Arizona Center on Aging focuses on education, research and service to improve the quality-of-life of older persons.

Arizona Cancer Center physicians, scientists and other health professionals make significant research contributions to the basic understanding, prevention, diagnosis and control of cancer.

The Arizona Prevention Center develops innovative disease prevention and health promotion efforts throughout the state.

The Arizona Emergency Medicine Research Center, one of only five such centers in the nation, is poised to become a model and premier force in emergency medical services and research.

University Heart Center is dedicated to the prevention and cure of heart and vascular disease through research, education and patient care.

The Respiratory Sciences Center brings together experts in immunology, pathology, radiology, internal medicine, pediatrics, pharmacology, computer science and many other disciplines to attack respiratory disease in children and adults.

The Steele Memorial Children's Research Center uses a multi-disciplinary clinical and research approach to unlock the mysteries of childhood disease.

Some of the Many Health Care Milestones
at the Arizona Health Sciences Center


1973

University Medical Center, then called University Hospital, was nationally recognized for helping to reduce Arizona's infant mortality rate by 50 percent in two years.

1974

Robert Volz, M.D., UA orthopedic surgeon, designs and implants the world's first artificial wrist.

1976

An Arizona Cancer Center team, led by Sydney Salmon, M.D., develops a revolutionary technique involving human tumor cell cloning, opening dramatic avenues in cancer research.

1979

Arizona's first heart transplant was performed by Jack Copeland, M.D., on Norman "Dutch" Tarr, 49.When University Heart Center cardiologists first brought their medical skills to reservations in Northern Arizona, the Native Americans were skeptical.

However, during one of the first visits, "Navajo Joe," a Native American living on the Navajo reservation, had a heart attack. It was one of the first times the Native Americans had seen a heart attack, says Gordon A. Ewy, M.D., University Heart Center director and professor of medicine at The University of Arizona College of Medicine.

"At that time there was no coronary care unit in the hospital," Dr. Ewy said. "We hooked him up to a monitor and the group of cardiologists and cardiology fellows on that visit took turns of four-hour shifts taking care of him for the dangerous first 24 hours."

The visits started when two physician-residents from Georgetown University were assigned to the Indian Health Service at Fort Defiance and Chinle.

"When they got here, they called Frank Marcus, M.D., (the founding chief of cardiology) and me. They said many patients had heart murmurs and asked if we could come up and help," Dr. Ewy said.

That was about 30 years ago and the cardiologists, cardiology fellows and students from University Heart Center now make trips twice a year.

The University of Arizona now also has a regular presence with a cardiologist dedicated solely to cardiac care on the reservations. James Galloway, M.D., a University Heart Center cardiologist, was appointed by the Indian Health Service to provide cardiac care to those patients. Physicians on the reservations refer all questions about patients with heart disease to Dr. Galloway and, if necessary, patients are sent to University Medical Center, where he performs procedures, such as cardiac catheterizations or cardiac surgery.

Says Dr. Ewy: "The advantage of referring to Dr. Galloway is that he is dedicated to the Indian Health Service.

Dr. Galloway was stationed on the reservation for about six years and was a cardiology fellow with us for three years. But most importantly, he's an excellent cardiologist!"

To strengthen disease prevention and health-promo University Heart Center Shares its Expertise with Native Americans He knows the culture–he even has a medicine man on his staff.

1985

The first bridge-to-transplantation of the Jarvik-7 artificial heart takes place at University Medical Center.

1988

The first Bone Marrow Transplant Program in the Southwest is established, a combined effort of UMC, the UA College of Medicine, the Arizona Cancer Center and The University Physicians.

1993

Barbara Timmermann, Ph.D., professor at the UA College of Pharmacy, became one of only five researchers in the nation to receive a $2.5 million federal grant to develop new and useful drugs and environmentally safe agro-chemicals from desert plants.

1995

The UA College of Nursing is ranked the sixth-best of 491 accredited nursing schools in the United States, the highest national ranking ever achieved by the College.

1996

The Department of Pediatrics at the UA College of Medicine established the Child Abuse InfoCenter, a statewide clearinghouse for child abuse information.

1997

The Department of Ophthalmology at the UA College of Medicine, in collaboration with Johns-Hopkins University, begins a first-ever study of the prevalence and causes of eye disease among Mexican-Americans.Some of the Many Health Care Milestones at the Arizona Health Sciences Center

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