Given the close association between the Medical School of the University and the teaching and clinical practice associated with local hospitals there is inevitably a considerable overlap of interest between the two areas, particularly with respect to the Sheffield General Infirmary, opened in 1797 - from its centenary accorded the title `Royal Infirmary´ - and the Sheffield Royal Hospital, growing out of a Dispensary opened circa 1829. Both institutions amalgamated in 1939, their separate sites closing in more recent times and their identity within 'United Sheffield Hospitals' being reborn as the modern Royal Hallamshire Hospital.

What was to become the University Medical School began life in the early 19th century as two rival institutions in the city centre, founded in 1828 and 1829, and coexisting for some years before eventually merging. In 1882 the School began an association with the recently founded Firth College, and in 1897 was incorporated into University College. It formed an integral part of the new University of Sheffield founded in 1905.