The First Class

1
The First Class
What is it like being first? For the first two
years of their education, the Class of 1960 had
no hospital for obtaining clinical experience so
they were bused to Lake City aboard a bus
nicknamed The Blue Goose. With no upper classes,
they had no one to turn to for advice and spent
all of their time studying until the faculty
insisted they take breaks.
The first class at the College of Medicine
registered for classes September 8, 1956. This
class was selected by COM Dean George T. Harrell
and early faculty members. Dr. Harrell was the
driving force in selecting students, and he chose
a diverse group of students, many of whom had
musical talents and interests in the humanities.
All students were required to complete a research
thesis.
Student Study Cubicle
The three women in the first class.
The Herrero brothers registering for classes in
the beginning and then at graduation.
Students often socialized with faculty, who were
new and close in age to the class. Many of the
faculty had not taught before and some classes
were memorable- one class was nauseated from an
accidental overdose during a classroom
demonstration. In another students were to
investigate bile from rat gall bladders- but rats
to not have gall bladders.