In order to know where you’re headed, you need to know where you’ve been. For Meharrians, our journey began nearly 200 years ago.

Samuel Meharry and his four brothers officially founded Meharry Medical College in 1876, but the College’s story actually began in response to an Act of Kindness received on a Kentucky road one rainy night during the 1820s—a chance meeting now known as The Salt Wagon Story. This act of reaching out, reaching back, and propelling others forward illustrates the model for the entire Meharry Experience, including our approach to a professional medical education.

Today, Meharry receives over 5,000 applications for admissions to the M.D., D.D.S., M.S.P.H., and Ph.D. programs, providing opportunities for people of color, individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, and others, regardless of race or ethnicity, to receive excellent education and training in the health sciences and conduct research that fosters the elimination of health disparities.

We help others in gratitude for those who helped us, and in gratitude for those who came before us—by reaching out, reaching back, and propelling our students and communities forward. It is our mission, it is our goal—it is Who We Are.