Ohio Medical University
Ohio in 1868 became one of three states to be among the first to pass a dental practice act. The Ohio State Dental Society, founded in 1866, had in its purpose the idea of advancing the profession by ridding it of incompetent dentists and charlatans. The Ohio law made it illegal for anyone to practice dentistry for compensation in the state unless that person had receive a diploma from a dental college or had been issued a certificate of qualification by the state dental society or a local society that was an auxiliary of the state organization.
The act provided for the appointment of a state dental board by the state dental society, to oversee the regulation of the profession. The newly appointed board decided to examine only those who were not graduates of dental schools and were new to practice. Dentists already in practice were waived from the examination until 1873. As time passed, the examination became more rigorous. The examination process for certification became dreaded by many who desired a career in dentistry. Attending a dental school and being certified for practice by simply graduating looked more inviting than a preceptorship of two or three years and an examination.
Another event around 1868 was the establishment of a dental school within Harvard University that marked the first successful placement of dental education within a university. From that date on the majority of dental schools founded were university affiliated.
The Ohio State University College of Dentistry originated as the dental department of the Ohio Medical University, a freestanding, private institution which was organized and chartered in Columbus in 1890 (the first class session began in 1892).
A new dental law was enacted in May 1892 that provided a five-member board, appointed by the Governor rather than by the state dental society and further required all licensed dentists in the state to re-register.
During the winter of 1906-1907 the trustees of the Starling Medical College and of the Ohio Medical University, recognizing the great advantages that would accrue to the cause of education and to the entire medical profession by union and co-operation, transferred the property and equities of these two corporations to a Board of their own selection with power to incorporate a new college. This action was taken March 13, 1907, the name agreed upon, Starling-Ohio Medical College (SOMC), being a happy combination of the names of the only medical colleges in central Ohio at the time of the union. The new corporation included a Medical College, a Dental College and a Pharmacy College, designated as Departments.
There was a vision of greater things for both SOMC and The Ohio State University when Dr. William Oxley Thompson, president of OSU, was elected president of the SOMC. Property difficulties were ultimately overcome, and the Legislature authorized, in a bill introduced by Senator E. G. Lloyd, the creation in the Ohio State University not only of a College of Dentistry, but also of a College of Medicine. At the May, 1913, meeting of the Trustees of the Ohio State University, President Thompson presented a proposal from the trustees of SOMC to transfer the real and personal property of that institution to them, provided they would maintain colleges of medicine and dentistry, accept the students in medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy with the rank and standing as certified by the proper officers of SOMC and take the necessary steps to protect the professional rights of the alumni, receiving and preserving the necessary records and papers. A supplementary proposition was later received, offering to turn over, in addition to the properties, case on hand, after payment of all bills— a balance estimated at $12,000.
These propositions were accepted in January, 1914, by the trustees, who adopted resolutions establishing the College of Medicine and the College of Dentistry. The property, which was transferred in March, consisted of two lots and a college and hospital building on Park Street, subject to a lease by the Protestant Hospital Association, and three lots on State Street, on which the Starling Medical College/St. Francis Hospital building was located, besides all chattel and personal property.
In April 1914, Dr. Harry M. Semans was elected dean, and a faculty of 24, one-half of whom were salaried, was appointed. William M. Mutchmore was elected registrar.
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