Geneva Medical College, 1834-1871

Geneva Medical College was founded in 1834 by Dr. Edward Cutbush, a Professor of Chemistry at Geneva College, which is now named Hobart College. Among the graduates of Geneva Medical College is Elizabeth Blackwell, MD, who was the first woman physician in the world to graduate from an accredited college of medicine. At Dr. Cutbush’s suggestion, Geneva Medical College became a department of Geneva College. From 1834-1853 the official name of this new medical school was Medical Institution of Geneva College. As population shifted in the middle of the nineteenth century and other medical schools were growing, the faculty of Geneva Medical determined that it was necessary to move their school to a new location. They chose Syracuse University due to a number of factors such as, declining enrollments, the central location of the city of Syracuse, and an invitation from Mother Marianne Cope, Administrator of St. Joseph’s Hospital in Syracuse, to use St. Joseph’s for clinical training of medical students. Geneva Medical College was officially dissolved in 1871 and reopened in their new location and the new name of College of Physicians and Surgeons of the Syracuse University. Geneva Medical College is the predecessor of the Syracuse University College of Medicine and the current SUNY Upstate Medical University.