Rush Medical College is the medical school of Rush University, located in the Illinois Medical District, about 3 km (2 miles) west of the Loop in Chicago. Offering a full-time Doctor of Medicine program, the school was chartered in 1837, and today is affiliated primarily with Rush University Medical Center, and nearby John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County. In 2021, Rush Medical College was ranked 64th among research institutions in the U.S. by U.S. News & World Report. History Rush Medical College was one of the first medical colleges in the state of Illinois and was chartered in 1837, two days before the city of Chicago was chartered, and opened with 22 students on December 4, 1843. Its founder, Dr. Daniel Brainard, named the school in honor of Dr. Benjamin Rush, the only physician with medical school training to be a signatory of the Declaration of Independence. He later taught Meriwether Lewis the basic medical skills for his expedition with William Clark to the Pacific Northwest. Dr. Rush was also known as the "Father of American Psychiatry". During the early 1860s, Rush Medical College staff members started discussions on establishing a dental department. On March 12, 1869, a charter was issued to found the Chicago Dental College, which was intended to be Chicago's first dental school. All attempts to put this charter into operation failed, however, and an appeal was made to the Chicago Dental Society to become involved. As a result, on February 20, 1883, a charter was issued for the Chicago Dental Infirmary, which opened on March 12, 1883. During the college's first century, more than 10,000 physicians received their training there. A "Rush Doctor" was a highly prized commodity in the American West of the 19th century. Rush Medical College was affiliated with the University of Chicago from 1898 until 1942. With the onset of World War II, the medical college temporarily suspended its educational program, although it continued as an institution. Its faculty continued undergraduate and graduate teaching of medicine and the biological sciences as members of the faculty of the University of Illinois. The charter of the medical college was reactivated in 1969 when it became part of Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center. In 1971, Rush Medical College reopened with a class of 66 first-year students and 33 third-year students. Students For the 2016–2017 academic year, Rush Medical College was home to 515 medical