University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine

The University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine is the medical school of the University of Toronto. The faculty is based in the Discovery District of Downtown Toronto along with most of its teaching hospitals and research institutes. Founded in 1843, it is one of Canada's oldest institutions of medical studies, and is known for the discovery of insulin and stem cells. The school was ranked 6th in the world and 1st in Canada by the U.S. News and World Education Rankings for Clinical Medicine in 2016, and 13th in the world and 1st in Canada by the QS University Subject Rankings for Medicine in 2015.HistoryThe university originally opened its medical school in 1843, providing instruction in medicine and medical sciences. In 1853, it suspended the school's teaching program and transferred teaching duties to the city's three proprietary schools: Trinity Medical College, the Toronto School of Medicine and Woman's Medical College. Because proprietary schools could not grant degrees, the university's medical school retained the responsibility of holding examinations and conferring medical degrees. As the university kept raising its standards, the medical examinations became increasingly rigorous and scientific. This led to fewer medical students from proprietary schools deciding to obtain university degrees, which were not required for medical practice at the time.In 1887, the university resumed medical teaching in its Faculty of Medicine. The faculty promptly absorbed the Toronto School of Medicine, which could no longer compete with the university as it faced heavy costs of scientific work and higher examination standards set by the faculty.