About

Galens Medical Society: A Brief History

Galens Medical Society was founded in 1914 by a group of medical students and faculty. Originally, the Society primarily functioned as an honorary society for student advocacy and sought to bridge the gap between medical students and faculty. Early accomplishments included the establishment of an honor system, the procurement of student lockers to prevent theft, and the formation of a student lounge.

Galens members thought it important to socialize outside of the classroom, and in 1918 they held the first "All-Medic Smoker" in the Michigan Union. The performance was enjoyed by students and faculty alike and featured a series of skits followed by refreshments and talks by professors. The "Smoker" moniker recalls those early performances when Galens men enjoyed the pleasures of tobacco along with their ribald humor. Additional social events included the fall student and faculty picnic and the year-end banquet, which became annual traditions.

In 1927 the organization's focus shifted to charitable work to benefit children. That year Galens members held the first "Tag Days" fundraiser and collected monetary donations from Ann Arbor residents and University students. Funds from that event approached $1,000 and paid for a Christmas party to benefit children hospitalized at the University Hospital. The remaining money helped establish the Galens Workshop the following spring, which was a place for hospitalized children to play, build, and receive an education. The Workshop still exists today and is operated by Mott Child and Family Life.

Galens' capacity for charitable endeavors and student advocacy was bolstered with the founding of the Galens News Stand on May 8, 1939 in the lobby of the University Hospital. The funds realized from the News Stand were used for a variety of projects: securing microscopes for student laboratories; providing free stationery, envelopes, books, movies, and entertainment for University Hospital patients; paying the salary for the hospital chaplain; resurfacing the Hospital tennis courts; providing funds for recreation for children in the Neuropsychiatric Institute; and many other projects benefiting patients and students alike. Additionally, Galens members used the funds to create scholarships and a loan fund for medical students.

In 1937 Galens members began a tradition of formally recognizing those faculty members that display commitment to and excellence in medical student teaching. That year Dr. F. C. Hodges was named the first "Knight of the Silver Shovel," and today Galens members continue to recognize excellent medical school faculty and resident physicians through the Silver Shovel, Elizabeth Crosby, and Bronze Beeper awards.

In 1964 Galens members ensured that hospitalized children would have a place to be more "kid" than patient when they provided the funds to build the 8th floor of the current C. S. Mott Hospital. With the 8th floor, Galens provided a space to house the Workshop, created a student lounge (currently the pediatric resident lounge), and provided a chapel for patient and family use. In 1968, Galens pledged $80,000 to Mott Hospital for the creation of the Galens Intensive Care Unit for Children, and repeated this effort in the early 1980s when it donated money to create a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital. Most recently in 2006, Galens members approved a $200,000 donation to help construct Mott Child and Family Life playrooms at the new Mott Hospital to once again ensure that hospitalized children will have a place to be more "kid" than patient.

Today Galens Medical Society is the largest and most diverse service and social organization at the Medical School. The organization raises approximately $70,000 in its annual Tag Days fundraiser and distributes this money to organizations within Mott hospital and charities that benefit the children of Washtenaw County. Galens members take an active role in volunteerism and interact socially with faculty through activities such as the Smoker, fall and spring picnics, and the year-end banquet. The Galens loan fund helps defray the cost of residency interviewing at subsidized interest rates and students continue to recognize and award teaching and leadership excellence among Medical School faculty and physicians.

The traditions of community service, extracurricular socialization, faculty cooperation and recognition, and student advocacy have remained central objectives throughout the organization's long history. The success and duration of the organization is attributable not only to the commitment, passion, and charity of its students, but also to that of its alumni and honorary faculty members, who over the years have dutifully served as advisors, mentors, and advocates.