Our mission and purpose

The Minnesota Academy of Medicine was founded in 1887, one year before the University of Minnesota School of Medicine. Its goal was to bring together the early medical practitioners in Minneapolis and St Paul to share medical information and to socialize with one another. Meeting at the Town and Country Club in St Paul, members gathered to hear a book report and a speaker on a medical topic of interest and importance.

This tradition has continued unbroken through the years with monthly meetings from October to May. Current members invite colleagues to join the Academy and the tradition lives on. Many prominent local physicians have taken part in the Academy enriching the experience. In our era of separate medical systems and electronic communication, it is rare to have the opportunity to meet and discuss medical topics with physicians from other disciplines, other hospitals, and other geographic areas. It is a way to appreciate and to remember the historic medical accomplishments of our fellow physicians and to learn from one another.