Baylor College of Medicine and DeBakey High School Partnership

In 1972, led by then Baylor College of Medicine president Dr. Michael DeBakey, BCM and HISD planned to open the nation's first high school for health professions (HSHP) on October 2 with 45 sophomores attending classes at BCM. Perry Weston, an HISD science coordinator, was named the school's principal.

Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, the only private medical school in the Greater Southwest, is recognized as a premier academic health science center and is known for excellence in education, research and patient care. Read more about BCM history.

For 2010, U.S.News & World Report ranked BCM 17th overall among the nation's top medical schools for research and for primary care. BCM is listed 13th among all U.S. medical schools for National Institutes of Health funding, and No. 2 in the nation in federal funding for research and development in the biological sciences at universities and colleges by the National Science Foundation.

Located in the Texas Medical Center, Baylor College of Medicine has affiliations with eight teaching hospitals, each known for medical excellence.

The college has total research support of $302 million, with $241 million from federal sources, and more than 90 research and patient-care centers and units. Currently, BCM trains more than 3,000 medical, graduate, nurse anesthesia, and physician assistant students, as well as residents and post-doctoral fellows.

• 1900 - College is founded in Dallas, Texas
• 1903 - Affiliates with Baylor University
• 1948 - Dr. Michael E. DeBakey appointed chair of Department of Surgery
• 1969 - BCM becomes an independent institution and receives funding from the State of Texas
• 1969 - Dr. DeBakey becomes BCM's first president
• 1972 - The nation's fist high school for health professions begins in a BCM classroom