Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons

The Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, abbreviated P&S, is a graduate school of Columbia University located on the health sciences campus in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. One of the most prestigious medical schools, P&S enrolls approximately 600 students. P&S is a part of the associated New York-Presbyterian Hospital, and its work is highly interlinked with other medical programs in New York City, in particular that of the Weill Cornell Medical College.

Campus
Situated on land overlooking the Hudson River and separated from Columbia's undergraduate campus in Morningside Heights by approximately 50 blocks and the neighborhood of Harlem, the Columbia University Medical Center has its own unique standing and identity. The campus comprises not only P&S, but also the College of Dental Medicine (formerly the School of Dental and Oral Surgery), the School of Nursing, the Mailman School of Public Health, the Presbyterian portion of New York-Presbyterian Hospital (including the Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital) and the New York State Psychiatric Institute. Housing options include Bard Hall and the Bard-Haven Towers, a complex of three 36-story apartment buildings overlooking the Hudson and the George Washington Bridge.

Opened in the 1920s and originally known as the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, it was the first academic medical center and pioneered the practice of combining medical training with patient care.

P&S Club
P&S is notable amongst U.S. medical schools for its devotion to a diversely talented student body, including world-class musicians, Olympic athletes, and chess grandmasters. There are a host of student clubs available at P&S that cover a range of interests, both professional and personal; all of which fall under the umbrella of the P&S Club. Founded over a century ago by John Mott, the 1946 Nobel Peace Prize recipient, the P&S Club serves to support and provide activities and organizations for the enrichment of the lives of P&S students. The P&S Club is well known for its humanitarian aims; most notably the 1917 purchase of a steam launch delivered to Sir William Grenfell, a physician living in Labrador. This launch was used to deliver medical services to the Eskimo and Native American fishermen living on the islands of the Labrador coast and was frequently manned by P&S students.

Colonial Years
In 1767, King's College (now Columbia University) opened a medical school. At the time, the medical program at King's College was the first to open in New York and only the second to be opened in the American Colonies. Three years later, in 1770, King's College conferred its first medical degree to Robert Tucker, this would prove to be the first Doctor of Medicine awarded in the Thirteen Colonies. King's College continued to educate young doctors until 1776 when the school was forced to close due to the onset of the Revolutionary War and the occupation of New York by British soldiers. King's College remained closed until 1784 when the school was reopened as Columbia College and in December of that year the faculty of the medical school were re-instated. In 1791 Dr. Samuel Bard, a prominent colonial physician whom George Washington credited with saving his life, was named dean of the medical school.

Merger with the College of Physicians and Surgeons
In 1807, with a growing young nation in need of adequately trained doctors, the New York State Board of Regents founded, under separate charter, the College of Physicians and Surgeons. And merely four years later, in 1811, Dr. Samuel Bard, dean of Columbia University Medical School, became president of the College. The year 1814 then saw the merger of Columbia University Medical School into the College of Physicians and Surgeons, a move that was made in an attempt to stymie what was then seen as a period of decline for the medical school. Despite this merger, the College of Physicians and Surgeons retained its independence from Columbia and it was only in 1860 that the College of Physicians and Surgeons, after severing its ties to the New York Board of Regents and through agreement between the trustees of the College of Physicians and Surgeons and Columbia, became the official medical school of Columbia University. However, this new relationship between the College and Columbia was minimal at best with the College still retaining independence from Columbia. It was not until 1891 that the College of Physicians and Surgeons would be fully integrated and incorporated into Columbia.

Medical Center Formation
In 1911, Columbia University entered into a Formal Agreement of Alliance with Presbyterian Hospital, a hospital founded in 1868 by James Lenox a New York philanthropist. It was this alliance that helped to pave the way for the creation of a new medical center format. In 1928, the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center opened its doors. Set on land in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan, Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center was the first place in the world to provide facilities for patient care, medical education and research all under one roof. Included in this project with Presbyterian Hospital were the Babies Hospital, the Neurologic Institute of New York, and the New York State Psychiatric Institute; these were then joined in 1950 by the New York Orthopaedic Hospital.

In 1997, the Presbyterian Hospital merged with New York Hospital (partner of Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University) to form the New York-Presbyterian Hospital. This new hospital system has also incorporated many of the satellite hospitals and affiliated programs of these two institutions. While the two medical schools remain independent of one another, there has been significant cross fertilization between the two campuses leading to increasing numbers of shared research experiences and training programs. NYPH is now the largest private employer in New York City. All hospitals in the NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System are affiliated with either the Cornell or Columbia medical schools.

Notable P&S Alumni
Notable P&S Alumni have included popular and notable medical innovators such as Dr. Benjamin Spock, Dr. P. Roy Vagelos, Dr. Virginia Apgar, Dr. William Halsted, Dr. Allen Whipple, Dr. Walker Percy, Dr. John E. Sarno, Dr. Robin Cook (novelist), Dr. Andrew Frantz, and Dr. Charles Drew. For a further listing of notable Columbians see: List of Columbia University people.