Our History

UC Irvine’s medical school has roots that date back more than 125 years.

Originally founded as the Pacific Sanitarium and School of Osteopathic Medicine in 1896, the UC Irvine School of Medicine is the oldest continually operating medical school in the Los Angeles area. By 1962, the school was known as the California College of Medicine (CCM), offering MD, MS and PhD programs.

In 1965, the same year UC Irvine welcomed its first students, the UC Regents acquired CCM. In 1968, CCM officially became the UC Irvine School of Medicine, moving from Los Angeles to a 122-acre site on the western edge of the Irvine campus. Warren Bostick, MD, served as the first dean of the UC Irvine School of Medicine (see the deans who have since followed at the bottom of this page). 

In 1976, UC Irvine purchased the Orange County Medical Center, known today as UCI Health – Orange. It houses the UCI Douglas Hospital, Orange County's only Level I adult and Level II pediatric trauma center.

A little over 10 years later, the Beckman Laser Institute & Medical Clinic opened, becoming the first of now dozens of research centers and institutes run by the UC Irvine School of Medicine, including the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, originally founded as the UCI Cancer Center in 1989.

In 2004, the School of Medicine launched the first of its mission-based educational training programs, and in 2012, it became one of the first medical schools in the country to receive an Apple Distinguished School designation for its innovation in education technology.

The current dean, Michael J. Stamos, MD, took on the role in 2017. As of summer 2026, Dr. Stamos also serves as interim vice chancellor of the Susan and Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences, named after the Samuelis' $200 million cornerstone gift.

In 2025, the School of Medicine received its most recent full eight-year reaccreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), which is the longest possible term.

Late 2025 also saw the opening of the nation’s first all-electric acute care hospital with UCI Health – Irvine, and in July 2026, the UCI Health – Irvine Rehabilitation Hospital opened, becoming Orange County’s only academic medical center rehabilitation facility.

There are now seven hospitals in UCI Health, the largest — and only academic — health system in Orange County.

Learn more below about our mission: Discover. Teach. Heal.

Meet the Dean