EVMS opened in 1973. Community leaders conceived of the school in response to a shortage of local physicians.
The school's first graduates were not physicians. Instead, students in Art Therapy, now the Art Therapy and Counseling Program, were the first to cross the stage, in 1974. It would be two years later when the first physicians graduated.
The school's first MD graduates totaled 23. The latest MD entering class numbers 146 students.
EVMS has more than 1,100 students. More than 500 are enrolled in the MD program; the remaining 600 are studying in a variety of programs offered through the EVMS School of Health Professions.
At any one time, EVMS provides graduate medical education to more than 300 physicians in 38 residency, fellowship and internship programs.
EVMS offers more than 1,000 hours of continuing medical education (CME) each year so that local physicians can keep up with the latest treatments.
A 2012 report estimates the school's annual economic impact at $824 million.
EVMS is the region's 20th largest non-governmental employer.
EVMS students opened the first student-run free clinic in Virginia. HOPES Free Clinic assists families in Norfolk.
More than 1,500 graduates live and practice in Hampton Roads.