The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) opened in Charleston, South Carolina in 1824 as a small private college for the training of physicians. It is one of the oldest continually operating schools of medicine in the United States and the oldest in the Deep South. The school's main building was designed by Charleston architect Albert W. Todd.

The school has expanded into a state university with a medical center and six colleges for the education of health professionals, biomedical scientists and other health care personnel. It also operates as a center for research and has a public hospital.