History

Please select links below to view videos:

Raclin-Carmichael Hall  Benefactor: Ernestine M. Raclin 

Harper Hall Benefactor: Charles "Mike" Harper

In 1970, facing a crisis shortage of physicians and with only one medical school to serve the state's growing population, the Indiana legislature passed a bill creating a system of regional medical centers. The centers were to be extensions of Indiana University School of Medicine, operated in partnership with universities throughout the state.

Two then giants of higher education, IU President Herman B Wells and Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, CSC, president of University of Notre Dame, collaborated to ensure that the South Bend regional campus partnered with Notre Dame. "We want to help," said Father Hesburgh. "The question isn't what Indiana can do for Notre Dame, but what Notre Dame can do for Indiana." Notre Dame Trustee O.C. Carmichael Jr. of South Bend also played an instrumental role in bringing a medical center to South Bend.

In preparation for this regional expansion, pilot programs were established at Notre Dame and Purdue University in 1968. Two first-year medical students per year were assigned to each school to assess its ability to educate future physicians.

IUSM-SB has continued its role as a pathfinder in the regional medical center program. In 2008, it again initiated a pilot program, this time to establish a model for third- and fourth-year clinical education.

IUSM-SB now educates approximately 48 students annually in the first and second years and more than a dozen in years three and four, supported by more than 130 regional physicians. 

Over the years, IUSM-SB has received unparalleled support from the area medical community, including Memorial Hospital, Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center, Elkhart General Hospital and IU Health LaPorte, as well as the Medical Education Foundation.

Nearly 200 local physicians, many of whom attended IUSM-SB, instruct courses, offer public lectures, and act as research partners and mentors to students.

In 2005, IUSM-SB moved from a basement location at Notre Dame to the new Raclin-Carmichael Hall, across the street from Notre Dame's southern border. The building honors O.C. Carmichael and his widow, Ernestine Raclin.

In 2008, IUSM-SB and Notre Dame faculty intensified their partnership with the opening of the Harper Cancer Research Institute in the new Harper Hall. For IUSM-SB, the future forecasts both a growing four-year medical education program, the introduction of a regional residency program, and exciting discovery in the world of cancer research.