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As the African American population increased in West Virginia, the need for medical care in the Black community intensified. The Mountain State’s Black population skyrocketed from roughly 18,000 in 1870 to nearly 118,000 by 1940. During the Jim Crow Era, West Virginia had more African American healthcare providers and hospitals than any other state in central and southern Appalachia. However, racial disparities in healthcare still existed, with Black West Virginians experiencing higher death and infection rates than White West Virginians. [1] 

Prior to 1898, there was no established medical facility in the Clarksburg, WV area. Care was provided by circuit riding doctors, family members and local midwives, company doctors in coal camps, and the few established physicians licensed after the 1881 licensure law was put into effect. To meet the need for medical care in Clarksburg, a group of physicians incorporated the Harrison County Hospital in 1900. The founding doctors of the Harrison County Hospital Group were Drs. D. P. Morgan, R. L. Morrison, Waldo Goff, Nelson Peck, Fleming Howell, Robert A. Haynes, T. M. Hood, J. W. Johnson, E. N. Flowers, and Edward Wehner. The original hospital building was constructed on Washington Ave, between Sixth and Chestnut Streets, and was operational by May 1902. Considered at that time to be a state-of-the-art facility, the 25-bed hospital had steam heat, electric lights, an elevator, and an ambulance service. [1] 

While several minor developments occurred between 1938 and 1962, the next significant milestone in drug regulation was in 1962. Once again, a tragedy caused by drugs motivated the American government to strengthen the FDA. Thalidomide, marketed as a sleeping pill and a treatment for morning sickness, had an unexpected side effect that resulted in the birth of thousands of malformed babies across Europe. Thankfully, FDA Medical Officer Frances Kelsey had blocked thalidomide from being sold on American markets. Kelsey’s decision to bar thalidomide garnered public support and interest for stronger drug regulation. Congress took advantage of the political momentum to pass the Kefauver-Harris Drug Amendments to the FD&C Act. This legislation required pharmaceutical companies to not only prove safety but also effectiveness of their medicine. Significantly, the Kefauver-Harris Drug Amendments were a foundation for extensive clinical trials of medicines, which, of course, is a cornerstone of modern pharmaceutical development. Throughout the 1960s, government contractors retroactively tested drugs approved between 1938 and 1962 to ensure their effectiveness as well as their safety, further reinforcing the emphasis that the FDA now placed on drug efficacy.[17] 

Chances are that every American has been prescribed medicine by a doctor, filled prescriptions at a pharmacy, or taken an over-the-counter medicine. On the labels of every drug are instructions for use, dosage, the strength of the drug, potential side effects and warnings, and other important information to safely take the medicine without harm. This information occurred after decades of American drug regulation. This regulation, ultimately, allows people to responsibly and safely take medicine and treat whatever ailments they might have, something that many in the modern day might take for granted.  

The year 1949 permanently changed American society. In mid-August, the Soviet Union detonated its first nuclear weapon, ending the American atomic monopoly and significantly escalating the Cold War. While American officials expected that a nuclear Stalinist Russia was inevitable eventually, the USSR had done so far sooner than expected. The United States responded to this dramatic development by accelerating their own weapons program, testing the first hydrogen (thermonuclear) bomb in 1951. As the arms race continued through the 1950s, both countries were forced to confront the potential realities of a sudden, devastating, nuclear war that could kill massive amounts of civilians and destroy whole cities. By the end of the decade, the United States, both on a national and federal level, had developed contingency plans for nuclear Armageddon. For those living and studying in the Morgantown area in the 1960s, the newly-built West Virginia University Hospital was central to the survival of many should the Cold War turn hot.  

When touring the William A. Neal Museum of the Health Sciences, visitors will see a Medal of Honor. This award commemorates the bravery and heroism of Corporal Thomas Bennett, a Morgantown native and West Virginia University Student. Despite his personal feelings towards the Vietnam War, Bennett served as a medic and sacrificed his life to care for wounded soldiers while under fire. 

Today, it is completely normal that all doctors have a comprehensive medical education, hold an advanced degree, have plenty of clinical experience, passed a licensing examination, and are deemed fit by their state medical boards to practice. However, in the late 1800s, the field of medicine was a chaotic and unregulated profession filled with quack doctors, frauds, and bogus medical schools that handed out degrees in exchange for a sum of money. How did medical practice turn into the orderly, professional, and respected field that healthcare is in the 21st century? West Virginians, most notably a man named James Reeves, contributed to these developments in medical practice by advocating for and enforcing a strict licensure law that ensured doctors were indeed qualified to take care of their patients.  

56 members (50%) of WVU’s School of Medicine Class of 2027 M.D. Candidates are female.[1] These 56 women, as well as every other woman who has earned an M.D. in America, are all following in the footsteps of Elizabeth Blackwell, who shattered the glass ceiling in American medical academies. 

James Edward Hanger served in the Confederate Army for less than two days. His military experience was cut short after the first land battle of the Civil War, and Hanger holds the “honor” of being the first known amputee of the conflict. Devastated with the loss of his limb, Hanger turned his emotional trauma into ingenuity, creating an artificial limb that revolutionized prostheses and a business that continues to innovate and advance the field of prosthetic limbs.  

One of the founding fathers of medical education in West Virginia, Edward Van Liere’s impact on West Virginia University’s Medical School cannot be understated. As a member of the faculty for 45 years and the Dean of the Medical School for 25 years, Van Liere oversaw dramatic changes in the medical program, most notably the transformation into a four-year program and the establishment of a medical hospital. Indeed, without his capable leadership, it is possible that the Medical School would not have survived through the 1930s, let alone grown into the successful institution it has become today.