Background

Acceptance Letter Who? The concept of getting accepted to medical school did not used to exist. Medical schools were proprietary in nature. The faculty, who were independent entrepreneurs, collected fees directly from students and in return, issued them tickets for admission to their course. Individual professors paid whatever overhead was due, such as rent, to the dean and kept the remainder as profit. With few exceptions, this system prevailed at both private and university-affiliated schools.

More Info

Medical lecture tickets were as individual as the professors who issued them. They came in various sizes, designs and colors, generally printed on a heavy stock paper. Most are oriented horizontally, although some professors opted for vertical orientation. Printing provided a myriad of choices for graphic design, not only font size and style, but also decorative elements.

The tickets were meant to be ephemeral, a paper that admitted a student to a course on the road to becoming a physician, but unlike a diploma, nothing intended for longevity. Fortunately for us, a significant number of students kept their tickets as mementos.

How to Learn More

Schedule a Tour: Contact the MHC to schedule a tour. Email us at mhcmail@osumc.edu, or call us at (614) 292-3275. We are located in Columbus, Ohio.

More to Come: Watch for more Curator's Top 25 artifact highlights throughout the rest of 2022!

Medical Heritage Center Contact Information

The Ohio State University Health Sciences Library
5th Floor, Prior Hall
376 West 10th Avenue
Columbus, Ohio 43210
(614) 292-3275
go.osu.edu/mhc