Our History

The Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine was founded in 1973 to meet a critical need for primary care physicians in northeast Ohio. In the summer of 1972, the Ohio General Assembly passed a bill which provided $50,000 to establish "a consortium of state universities in northeastern Ohio for preparation of detailed plans for medical education based insofar as practicable upon facilities of existing universities in each area and upon community hospital facilities." Those universities, The University of Akron, Kent State University and Youngstown State University, developed a plan for expanding medical education opportunities in northeast Ohio, including establishment of a medical school. In August 1973, the General Assembly of the State of Ohio passed legislation to establish the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine (NEOUCOM). In 1975, 42 students were selected for the charter class of the combined B.S./M.D. curriculum, and they began their studies at our affiliated universities.

In 1981, NEOUCOM received full accreditation and graduated its first class of 42 physicians. Today, the College of Medicine awards 100-115 doctor of medicine degrees annually. By charter, 90 percent of NEOUCOM students are Ohio residents. Today, more than half of the College of Medicine’s 2,555 alumni live and practice in Ohio.Following graduation, NEOUCOM alumni have been offered medical residencies at many of the nation’s top hospitals. Twenty percent of NEOUCOM graduates have served as chief residents. In keeping with the College’s mission of graduating physicians who practice at the community level, more than half of NEOUCOM’s graduates choose a primary care specialty.

In November 2005, the Ohio Board of Regents approved a doctor of pharmacy program at NEOUCOM, and the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Pharmacy was established in December 2005 by the NEOUCOM Board of Trustees. The doctor of pharmacy program was likewise created to meet important regional needs: to address the shortage of pharmacists in both retail and hospital settings. The College of Pharmacy, which has preferrential admissions agreements with northeast Ohio's four public universities, The University of Akron, Cleveland State University, Kent State University and Youngstown State University, welcomed its first class of 73 students in August 2007.