History of the Faculty of Medicine

Created in 1967 with the first students admitted in 1970, the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Medicine is one of the youngest medical schools in Canada.

Primarily created to train family physicians at a time when there was a perceived shortage, it has moved beyond this, evolving into a school that educates physicians for a spectrum of activities: from primary care to specialty care; to careers in education, management, and research.

The school has seen many infrastructural changes occur since its inception. Originally housed on the University’s main campus, students in the class of 1975 were the first to start their program in the newly constructed Health Sciences Building, built adjacent to the Foothills Hospital.

The advent of the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR) in the early 80s brought with it the opportunity to expand the Faculty of Medicine with research expertise.

Taking advantage of this opportunity the faculty aggressively recruited more than 100 well-trained biomedical and health care researchers. In order to house these researchers, the Heritage Medical Research Building was built in November of 1987 with funding made available by the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research.

Throughout the years the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Medicine has grown and developed into an internationally recognized education and research facility. We take pride in our multidisciplinary approach to medical research, education and patient care. This structure has allowed us to share knowledge between doctors and researchers, and transfer that knowledge from the laboratory to the bedside of patients.

For a more thorough look at the Faculty of Medicine, read our Institutional Self-Study Report that was prepared as part of our regular accreditation process.