From Missionary Cooperation to Foundation Administration
The college developed through takeover, reorganization, the start of courses and the opening of new buildings. Rockefeller Foundation representatives surveyed medical education in China in 1914 and 1915. Through the China Medical Board, the foundation then prioritized a well-equipped medical college emphasizing laboratory work and research. Contacts with the Chinese government, intellectuals and existing missionary medical institutions helped secure premises, personnel and institutional arrangements.
In 1915, the China Medical Board reached an agreement with the London Missionary Society to acquire the existing college’s property and assumed its expenses from 1 July. A new board was constituted on 24 January 1916, followed by a charter from New York State education authorities on 24 February. Alongside foundation members, representatives of the six original missionary organizations remained on the board, bringing new funding and administration into an existing school.
Existing Students, the Hospital and a New Campus
Reorganization did not leave all existing students in Beijing on their previous courses. In autumn 1916, the three lower classes transferred to the medical school of Shantung Christian University in Jinan. Two senior classes stayed for clinical training; the final class of 13 graduated in June 1918. The existing men’s hospital continued operating, adding staff and equipment and preserving facilities for transitional clinical teaching.
The new college was built on former princely estate land within Beijing, while premedical students initially used the old school’s laboratories, classrooms and dormitories. Franklin McLean was appointed to lead the new institution in 1916, but wartime military medical service interrupted his work in China. Henry Houghton later supervised construction as acting head. Chinese architectural exteriors enclosed modern laboratories, with anatomy, physiology and chemistry buildings arranged around courtyards.
Premedical Teaching Began in 1917
The teaching begun in autumn 1917 was premedical education. According to the foundation’s 1919 report, seven students initially received science and language instruction in preparation for medical courses. Admission was first intended to require a year of university study followed by two premedical years. Considering existing schools’ science preparation and the available applicants, the college added a preparatory year and admitted secondary-school graduates directly.
Courses included biology, chemistry, physics, some advanced mathematics, English and Chinese. By the end of 1919, there were 34 premedical students, including two women. That spring, the board had decided to admit women on the same terms as men. The premedical certificate allowed entry to the medical course without a further examination, closely connecting foundational and professional education.
Medical Courses and Laboratory Research
The first medical year began in autumn 1919 with seven registered students, mostly from the college’s premedical program. Instruction was in English, and entrants needed both English and Chinese. By 1921, the stated program combined three premedical years with five years of medical education, including a year of hospital internship or specialized laboratory work. It also offered postgraduate training for Chinese and foreign physicians and a separate four-year nursing program.
Research accompanied teaching. The 1919 report records anatomy faculty members Cowdry and Davidson Black undertaking anatomical and anthropological research, planning specimen displays and establishing academic contacts for research materials. The college’s work encompassed training physicians and teachers, conducting medical research and spreading public-health knowledge as well as clinical instruction.
Construction Funding and Operating Costs
The Rockefeller Foundation funded buildings, equipment and maintenance through the China Medical Board. The First World War made materials and scientific instruments difficult to obtain; transport disruption, rising prices and exchange-rate changes increased expenditure. Building and equipment costs grew, and construction management had to accommodate wartime supply and shipping conditions.
The foundation’s 1921 report records that the campus required its own water, electricity, gas and sewage facilities in addition to the college and hospital. That year, the board adopted gradual development and set an annual budget ceiling for the following three years of 1.2 million silver dollars, approximately 700,000 gold US dollars. Substantial investment secured laboratory and clinical facilities while the college began limiting expansion and operating expenditure.
Dedication in 1921 and Wider Educational Aims
John D. Rockefeller Jr. attended the dedication on 19 September 1921, alongside an academic meeting of Chinese and foreign medical professionals. Government representatives and people from educational and medical institutions were invited to tour the laboratories, hospital and campus equipment. Premedical classes in 1917, medical teaching in 1919 and the new buildings’ dedication in 1921 marked distinct developments.
The foundation hoped the college’s physicians and teachers would advance medical education more widely. The board’s 1921 policies included gradual growth, operation within budget limits and eventual transfer of premedical teaching to other schools and colleges. Alongside its own laboratories and hospital, the college sought to influence other institutions by training teachers and researchers.
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