Discourse upon the Institution of Medical Schools in America

John Morgan's Discourse upon the Institution of Medical Schools in America (1765) outlined his vision for medical education in the United States. Morgan, a pioneer in American medical education, advocated for a liberal education for medical students and the separation of medicine, surgery, and pharmacology into distinct disciplines. He founded the first medical school in the United States at the College of Philadelphia (now the University of Pennsylvania) and became its first professor of medicine. His ideas, however, faced significant opposition from colonial physicians and were not widely accepted at the time. Morgan also served as surgeon general of the Continental armies during the American Revolution.1