There are times when you might have to leave Kansas to gain a bit more insight into KU Medical Center’s history.

A prime example of that storied history sits on 39th Street, just across State Line Road on the Missouri side. Proudly jutting out from the southeast corner of an ancient intersection stands Jimmy’s Jigger, untouched by modern commerce. This legendary watering hole has given respite to generations of KU Medical Center students since its opening in 1933.

Stepping into Jimmy’s Jigger today, the old collides with new, as today’s students, with all their technological gadgets, huddle in decades-old darkened booths and on wobbly bar stools. Dim illumination is provided by staggered red and blue lights – KU colors - though one gets the sense the scheme is purely accidental.

Only at the Jigger can you saunter down the center aisle and know you are actually walking over a system of tunnels that date to Prohibition, about whose purpose the Jigger’s staff can only speculate.

The history of the bar is not lost on Jim Fishback, MD, associate professor of pathology and himself a veteran of the Jigger from his student days. “Some bars just have that certain character, where everyone knows your name,” he said. “Jimmy would cash your check, counsel you after a bad test, cater parties – you name it, he did it. That’s why he was an honorary member of most medical school classes.”

Evidence of the connection between Jimmy Bowers – legendary barkeep, friend to legions of students, and all-around Kansas City iconoclast who died in 1995 – and the cadre of emerging physicians he loved is everywhere inside the Jigger. You can see it on the walls of the upstairs room, scrawled with decades of graffiti. The messages include the usual declarations of undying love (Carl + Teresa) and expository declarations of presence (Paul Was Here!), but also feature the legitimately odd (Gordo Slaw!).

Ask today’s students why they continue to frequent Jimmy’s Jigger, and you hear a similar refrain: cheap drinks, close to school and work, a place you can just relax, et al. Even though medical education progresses at a lightning pace, medical students seem to be perennially cut from the same cloth, united in their stress and concerns, and the need for a safe haven in their lives.

The Jigger appears to provide exactly what so many students are looking for: community. “Jimmy’s was the usual hangout for most Year 1 and Year 2 students, along with the nursing students, KUMC faculty, clinical students and residents,” Dr. Fishback said. “It felt very safe, and Jimmy always made sure no one drove home drunk. He was like family.”

It’s easy to see that same spirit at Jimmy’s Jigger today. Students mix easily with neighborhood regulars, brought together in the collective need for a break from the world outside. It’s no surprise to see the students agree to just one more round and settling further into the beat-up booth seats. And why not? After all, medical school is all the way back in another state.