Hollings Cancer Center at the Medical University of South Carolina

The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) is a public medical school in Charleston, South Carolina that opened in 1824. It is one of the oldest continually operating schools of medicine in the United States and the oldest in the Deep South. The school has grown into a state university with a medical center, six colleges for the education of health professionals, biomedical scientists, and other healthcare personnel, and a public hospital.

In 1913, the state took over formal control of the college. In 1969, 12 African Americans were fired from the hospital, resulting in a two-month-long strike and protest. The Medical College of South Carolina was one of the first medical schools in the United States to establish, in 1834, an infirmary specifically for teaching purposes.

The college also entered into agreements for clinical training opportunities at the Poorhouse, the Marine Hospital, and the local “dispensary.” In 1856, Roper Hospital was opened and for 100 years Roper was the Medical College’s primary teaching hospital. The Medical Center includes centers for specialized care, numerous outpatient facilities, and in the past ten years, $200 million in capital improvements for the Medical Center focused resources on improved quality of patient care and accessibility of services.