Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) is a medical school and research center in Houston, Texas, within the Texas Medical Center, the world's largest medical center. BCM is composed of four academic components: the School of Medicine, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences; the School of Health Professions, and the National School of Tropical Medicine.

The school is part owner, alongside Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI), of Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center, the flagship hospital of the CHI St. Luke's Health system. Other affiliated teaching hospitals and research institutes include Harris Health System's Ben Taub Hospital, Texas Children's Hospital, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, TIRR Memorial Hermann, the Menninger Clinic, the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, and the Children's Hospital of San Antonio. On November 18, 2020, Baylor College of Medicine announced a new affiliation with Baylor Scott & White Health. This will result in the development of a new regional medical school campus in Temple, Texas, which will enroll 40 students per year starting in fall 2023.

Baylor College of Medicine was founded in 1900 in Dallas, Texas, by a group of Dallas physicians as the University of Dallas Medical Department, despite the absence of any institution under the University of Dallas name. This occurred following a meeting of Dallas area physicians on August 16, 1900, for the purpose taking the preliminary steps to establish a medical college. The majority of physicians in attendance opposed the creation of a medical college; however, the remaining physicians in favor set up a committee of medical professional and three laymen to secure a board of directors for the proposed college.

The school's charter was filed with the Texas Secretary of State on September 15, 1900, with three physicians as the incorporators: Drs. Samuel E. Milliken, J. B. Titterington, and Lawrence Ashton. The school opened on November 19, 1900, with 81 students in a former synagogue, Temple Emanu-el, located at 292 Commerce Street (today 1306 Commerce Street).

In 1903, an alliance with Baylor University in Waco was formed and the name was changed to Baylor University College of Medicine.

By 1918, Baylor University College of Medicine was the only private medical school in Texas.

Relocation to Houston
The M.D. Anderson Foundation invited Baylor to join the newly formed Texas Medical Center in Houston in 1943. The school opened in the medical center July 12, 1943, in a converted Sears, Roebuck & Co. warehouse, with 131 students. Four years later, Baylor moved to its present site in the Roy and Lillie Cullen Building, the first building completed in the Texas Medical Center.

In 1948, Michael E. DeBakey joined the faculty as chair of the Department of Surgery, and the following year, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences was established. Baylor's rise in prominence began in the 1950s when DeBakey's surgical techniques garnered international attention. In the 1960s, the college underwent its first major expansion.

Independence and expansion
In 1969, the college separated from Baylor University and became an independent institution, which allowed it access to federal research funding, changing its name to Baylor College of Medicine. That same year, BCM negotiated with the Texas Legislature to double its class size in order to increase the number of physicians in Texas.

Disaffiliation from Houston Methodist Hospital
In 2004, Baylor did not renew its affiliation agreement with Houston Methodist Hospital, the school's primary private adult teaching hospital, following contentious discussions between the two institutions. This split is notable as the only instance in American medical history of a medical school and one of its primary teaching hospitals parting ways.

Recent history
In 2005, Baylor College of Medicine began building a hospital and clinic, to be called the Baylor Clinic and Hospital, slated to open in 2011. In 2009, the college postponed construction for financial reasons, with the outer shell of the hospital completed but the interiors remaining unfinished. In March 2012, BCM decided to convert the building to an outpatient clinic center. In 2009, BCM entered into discussions with Rice University regarding a potential merger between the two Houston institutions. After extensive meetings, the boards at both institutions decided that each school would remain independent. In 2010, Baylor University entered into talks with BCM to strengthening ties to each other; however, the merger did not occur. Baylor University Board of Regents appoints 25% of the Baylor College of Medicine's board of trustees.

On June 21, 2010, Dr. Paul Klotman was named as the President and CEO of the Baylor College of Medicine.

In January 2014, BCM and CHI St. Luke's announced they would become joint owners of Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center, a hospital at the Texas Medical Center (formerly known as St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, then St. Luke's Medical Center after it was purchased by Catholic Health Initiatives in 2013). A partially completed hospital building on the BCM–McNair Campus is slated to open in 2015 and will become BCM's acute-care hospital and main medical teaching facility.

On November 18, 2020, Baylor College of Medicine announced a new affiliation with Baylor Scott & White Health that will result in the development of a new regional medical school campus in Temple, Texas which will enroll 40 students per year starting in fall 2023.