About Us

Overview & History

While the College offers excellent research and research training opportunities, the major emphasis is on preparing students to deliver patient care in communities that have a shortage of physicians and public health professionals.

The College living alumni, more than 4,000, are a testimony that an excellent medical education can be obtained at Howard. Although opportunities for minority students have increased at other medical schools, the College uniquely addresses the special health care needs of medically underserved communities and continues to produce a significant number of the nation's minority physicians. The College is a part of Howard University, a comprehensive research university. While the University community has traditionally been predominantly black, Howard has been an interracial and cosmopolitan institution throughout its history, with students, faculty and staff of all races and from many foreign nations. All must meet the high standards of excellence of Howard University, which has the largest concentration of black faculty and student scholars in the country.

In addition to the College of Medicine, the Howard University Health Sciences Center includes the Howard University Hospital; the College of Dentistry; the College of Pharmacy, Nursing and Allied Health Sciences; the Louis Stokes Health Sciences Library; and the Student Health Center. Located in the nation's capital, the College can draw upon the immense medical resources of this area, including the National Institutes of Health and the National Library of Medicine.

Degree Programs

The academic program leading to the M.D. degree from the Howard University College of Medicine is designed to produce physicians who are knowledgeable of the principles of modern medical science and who have mastered the art of critical thinking in the clinical decision-making process in order to engage in the practice of medicine as competent professionals.

Dual degree programs are offered jointly with the Graduate School (M.D./Ph.D.) and the College of Arts & Sciences (B.S./M.D.).

Six training programs leading to the Master of Science and/or Doctor of Philosophy degree are available in the College of Medicine. These degrees are offered through programs in anatomy, genetics & human genetics, microbiology, biochemistry, pharmacology and physiology & biophysics. For admission and specific degree requirements, students should consult the Graduate School.

Accreditation

Howard University is accredited by the Middle States Association of Secondary Schools and Colleges. The College of Medicine is accredited by the Liasison Committee on Medical Education and the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and the American Medical Association (AMA). The Howard University College of Medicine has received notice of FULL ACCREDITATION from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME).  The accreditation of the medical education program will extend through an eight-year term with a visit scheduled for the Academic Year 2024-2025.  

The Howard University College of Medicine first opened its doors as a medical department in 1868, just three years after the close of the Civil War. At that time, newly freed black people were migrating to the nation's capital in large numbers. The founders of the College recognized that  the nearly overwhelming health care needs of this population and of other blacks throughout this country would be met best by training students to  become highly competent, compassionate physicians who would deliver care in communities having a shortage of health personnel.

That realization was translated into the mission of the Howard University College of Medicine, and the continuing fulfillment of that mission is  evidenced by the illustrious record of service provided by the College's alumni and faculty.