It was the first in New England to offer three years of instruction instead of two, as was common in Europe at the time.
[2] Boylston was in direct competition with Harvard Medical School and was becoming known for its better instruction, despite not conferring degrees.
The legislature saw favorably upon this and that year it gained the right to confer the Doctor of Medicine degree.
[3][5] Harvard's response was to change its method of instruction to match, and to hire the majority of Boylston's faculty for its own school.
[4] This effectively ended the Boylston Medical School, and it closed its doors in 1855.