In 1767, King's College establishes second medical school in the 13 colonies. Read more.

In 1770, King's College awards first MD degree in the 13 colonies.

In 1784, King's College reopens as Columbia College following the Revolutionary War.

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 1872, George Huntington, MD1871, first outlines the symptoms and progression of what is now known as Huntington's disease.

In 1935, the Whipple procedure is pioneered by Allen Whipple, MD1908.

In 1938, Cystic fibrosis is identified by Dr. Dorothy Andersen.

In 1939, treatment for lethal meningitis is developed by Dr. Hattie E. Alexander.

Charles Drew, MSD1940, develops method to preserve and store blood plasma in the 1940s.
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In 1943, bacitracin is developed at P&S. It remains the most common ingredient in over-the-counter antibiotic ointments.

In 1946, Benjamin Spock, MD1929, publishes “The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care.” It becomes a widely influential, and best-selling, guide for parents ever since.

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 the 1960s, Dr. Vincent Freda, an obstetrician, and Dr. John Gorman, director of the blood bank at Columbia, pioneer a vaccine that helps to eradicate Rh disease in newborns.

In 1984, the first successful pediatric heart transplant is performed at Columbia by Eric Rose, MD1975.

P&S holds its first White Coat Ceremony in 1993. The Arnold P. Gold Foundation inaugurates the ceremony at P&S as a rite of passage that cloaks each medical student in his or her first white coat.

In 1993, Dr. Nancy Wexler leads effort identifying gene responsible for Huntington’s disease.

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.

The Roy and Diana Vagelos Education Center, named for P. Roy Vagelos, MD1954, and Diana Vagelos, is officially dedicated on June 9, 2016.

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.