The College was founded in 1860 by a group of New York City civic leaders led by the noted poet, editor and orator William Cullen Bryant, who was concerned with the primitive conditions of hospitals and medical education at that time.

Located in Westchester County, New York, the College is chartered by the Regents of the State of New York and accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, the Council on Education in Public Health (CEPH), the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA), the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE), the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), and the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association.

New York Medical College joined the Touro College and University System in May 2011, creating one of the United States’ largest biomedical higher education consortiums under one institutional banner. Presently, New York Medical College has more than 1,400 students, 1,338 residents and clinical fellows, more than 3,000 faculty members, and 12,706 living alumni.