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About the Anniversary
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Reflections and stories from the past and today.
Share your memories with us here or use the hashtag #ColumbiaPS250 on Twitter or Instagram.
The Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (P&S) is celebrating a true milestone: 250 years of pioneering medical education, research, patient care, and community service at Columbia University.
Newly named in their honor, the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons will replace loans with scholarships for medical students with financial need. Watch the tribute video.
The P&S Club is the largest student activities organization in American medical education. Watch the video.
1767 - 2017
Defining leadership in medicine
In 1771, the New York Hospital is founded by Dr. Samuel Bard and Dr. John Jones in lower Manhattan. This is the first teaching hospital in New York.
In 1807, the College of Physicians and Surgeons (P&S) is founded by charter.
In 1814, Dr. Samuel Bard oversees merger of Columbia's medical school and P&S. The two institutions fully integrate in 1891.
Valentine Mott, MD1806, is an influential American surgeon and the first American to successfully ligate a great number of large arteries in 1818.
In 1861, physiology professor Dr. John Dalton joins U.S. Army Medical Corps and treats thousands of Civil War soldiers. 409 P&S alumni served in the Civil War. Read more.
In 1884, William Henry Vanderbilt donates land on 59th Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues (now Columbus and Amsterdam) and $300,000 for a new building for P&S, making this the largest gift to a medical school up to that time.
In 1911, Harkness gift launches partnership between P&S and Presbyterian Hospital. The agreement signed between Columbia and Presbyterian Hospital establishes a model that is replicated by major institutions around the world, in which facilities dedicated to patient care, medical education, and research share a location.
In 1917, P&S begins admitting women for the first time. The first six women graduate in 1921. Since then, women have shaped medicine at P&S. Read more.
In 1928, Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, the world’s first medical center to combine complete facilities for patient care, medical education, and research in a single complex, is dedicated on October 12 in Washington Heights.
Charles Drew, MSD1940, develops method to preserve and store blood plasma in the 1940s.
Watch the video.
In 1947, Elvin Kabat, PhD, identifies multiple sclerosis as an autoimmune disorder. For his many contributions to the field of immunology and immunochemistry, he receives the National Medal of Science in 1991.
In 1952, while doing research on blood vessel regeneration, Arthur Voorhees, MD1946, develops the first successful artificial arteries. Read more.
In 1953, Virginia Apgar, MD1933, publishes the Apgar score, a simple 10-point scoring method for predicting infant health. Read more.
In 1956, Drs. André Cournand and Dickinson Richards receive Nobel Prize for developing cardiac catherization. Read more.
In 1998, Angela Christiano, PhD, discovers first human gene associated with hair loss. Read more.
In 2000, Eric Kandel, MD, wins the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on the molecular basis of memory. Read more.
In 2004, Richard Axel, MD, is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work in determining the genes that govern the sense of smell. Read more.
From 2007 through 2016, Columbia has been a lead site for the PARTNER and PARTNER II clinical trials, which proved the safety and efficacy of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). P&S heart surgeons have performed more TAVR procedures than the faculty of any other institution in the country.
In 2016, a $4 million NIH grant gives Columbia, Weill Cornell Medicine, NewYork-Presbyterian, and NYC Health + Hospitals key role in precision medicine cohort program. Read more.
Professor Joachim Frank shares the Nobel Prize in Chemistry “for developing cryo-electron microscopy for the high-resolution structure determination of biomolecules in solution.” Read more.
Roy and Diana Vagelos donate $250 million to P&S. Newly named in their honor, the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons will replace loans with scholarships for medical students with financial need. Read more.
Reflections and stories from the past and today.
Share your memories with us here or use the hashtag #ColumbiaPS250 on Twitter or Instagram.