Launching of the Graduate School
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts awarded Massachusetts General Hospital degree-granting authority in 1977, despite objections from other universities to the innovative concept of a hospital granting degrees.
The hospital initially was authorized to grant Master of Science degrees in physical therapy, nursing, speech-language pathology, and dietetics, as well as a Bachelor of Science in respiratory therapy and radiologic technology, although the MGH Institute didn't offer its first bachelor degree until 2008 when it created the Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Subsequent amendments have approved additional degree and certificate programs.
The hospital renamed its original Educational Division as MGH Institute of Health Professions in 1980 when the first students were admitted. The first degree, a Master of Science in Physical Therapy, was granted in 1983. In 1982, the Institute admitted students to the direct-entry master's program in nursing, one of the first to enroll baccalaureate-prepared individuals with no prior experience or education in nursing.
The MGH Institute became a separate corporation in 1985, with its own board of trustees, although it remains an affiliate of the hospital.
In 1994, Massachusetts General Hospital joined Brigham and Women's Hospital to found Partners HealthCare, now one of the most highly regarded integrated health care systems in the country.