The first steps toward the establishment of a Faculty of Medicine and Surgery were taken in 1847. The Medical Building was not completed, however, until two years later, and the formal opening of the new Department did not take place until October 1, 1850. On this occasion Abram Sager, the first President, or Dean of the Faculty, as we should now call him, delivered an address to ninety matriculates, at a time when there were only sixty-four students all told in the Literary Department. The period was propitious for the installation of a strong school, for although there were a few struggling medical institutions in the West, the vigorous growth of the new Department showed how inadequately this part of the country was served in medical education. The entrance requirements were simple; a fair high school education, with Latin and Greek sufficient for the understanding of medical terms. For graduation, at least three years' study with a reputable physician was required; but this might include the two six-month courses of lectures which comprised the work of the Department. Even this very slender medical preparation was not required of college graduates, or of students who had already practised medicine four years, for whom one course was deemed sufficient. A thesis was also necessary for graduation, and tradition has it that in a few cases during the earlier days of the Department, they were actually written and delivered in Latin. Special attention was given to laboratory work in chemistry and anatomy, though for the most part the training was given through lectures and quizzes. The conservatism of the Literary Department in educational methods here also found its parallel, even in the comparatively new sciences.