Some 159 years ago on September 29, 1834, Dr. Thomas Hunt, Dr. John H. Harrison and Dr. Warren Stone, the eldest being 26 years old, published in the New Orleans Bee "We are highly grateful to notice the establishment in this city of a Medical College." They were soon joined by four prominent local physicians and formed what was first known as the Medical College of Louisiana and now known as Tulane University Medical Center - the fifteenth oldest medical school in the country.

The school began with eleven students formally enrolled, however, lectures were attended by many persons who were "respectable" and of "both sexes". Fees were collected by each individual faculty member. Courses cost $20.00 each and included Materia Medica, Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children, Chemistry and Pharmacy, Physiology and Pathology. Later, Principles and Practices of Surgery became part of the basic curriculum after pressure from Dr. Warren Stone, who was known for his surgical abilities as well as the large size of his head. It was considered "massive".

By 1861, 404 students were enrolled. This humble school had reached national stature and was considered the leader in the Southwest.