Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Infobox Hospital
Name = Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Location = 21st Ave. & Garland Ave.,
Region = Nashville
State = Tennessee
Country = US
HealthCare = Private
Type = Academic
Speciality = Multispecialty
Standards = JCAHO accreditation
Emergency = I
Affiliation= Vanderbilt University
Beds = 832cite web |title=RE:VU: Quick facts about Vanderbilt University |url=http://www.vanderbilt.edu/facts.html |publisher=Vanderbilt University |accessdate=2007-07-02 ]
Founded = 1874
Website = http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu VUMC
Wiki-Links = |The Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) is a collection of several hospitals and clinics, as well as the schools of medicine and nursing associated with Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

It comprises the following units: [cite web |title=Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Visitors |url=http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/root/visitors.html |publisher=Vanderbilt University |accessdate=2007-07-02 ]

* Vanderbilt University Hospital
* Monroe Carell, Jr., Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt
* Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center
* The Vanderbilt Clinic
* Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center
* Vanderbilt Stallworth Rehabilitation Hospital
* Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital
* Eskind Biomedical Library
* Vanderbilt Sports Medicine
* Dayani Human Performance Center
* Vanderbilt Heart & Vascular Institute
* Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
* Vanderbilt University School of Nursing

VUMC also has numerous satellite facilities in and around middle Tennessee, serving a large community. VUMC is known for its highly-acclaimed teaching hospital and its groundbreaking efforts in electronic medical records. Its 1,800 physicians see more than 1.2 million patients each year and its hospitals admit more than 65,000 patients. Revenue from operations exceeds $2 billion annually and the Medical Center employs 14,000 full time staff. More than 600 physician scientists in more than 100 laboratories conducted more than $389 million of federally and corporately sponsored research as of 2007.Vanderbilt Medical Center Facts 2008]

VUMC was ranked 15th in the U.S. in the 2008 "America's Best Hospitals" ranking by U.S. News and World Report magazine, and was one of only 19 hospitals in the U.S. named to the publication's "Honor Roll," which is based on excellence across a broad spectrum of medical specialties. Vanderbilt programs ranked by U.S. in 2008 were Gynecology (ranked 9), Kidney (9), Urology (10), Cancer (14), Ear Nose and Throat (14), Endocrinology (15), Respiratory Disorders (18) and Heart (23). [ U.S. News and World Report July 21-28, 2008]

History

Vanderbilt faculty have won two Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine. In 1971 Earl Sutherland, Jr., received the prize for his discovery of Cyclic AMP. Stanley Cohen received a Nobel in 1986, as he shared the award with Rita Levi-Montalcini of Italy for their discovery of epidermal growth factor, a hormone that can speed up certain biological processes. Some other important research firsts from Vanderbilt's history:• In 1933, Alfred Blalock and his research assistant Vivien Thomas conducted pioneering research leading to the first cardiothoracic surgery for infants born with "blue baby syndrome". Blalock's work was essential to the development of open heart surgery. [cite book |last=Jacobson |first=Timothy C |title=Making Medical Doctors: Science and Medicine at Vanderbilt Since Flexner |publisher=University of Alabama Press |year=1987 |page=197] • In the early 1940s, Ernest Goodpasture developed the method of culturing vaccines in chick embryos, which allowed the mass production of vaccines to prevent viral diseases worldwide. [Jacobson, 222.] • In the 1950s, Amos U. Christie, chair of pediatrics, led a team that achieved worldwide notice for pioneering work in histoplasmosis. [ [http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/bulletin_of_the_history_of_medicine/v078/78.2gossel.html Project MUSE ] ]

Patient care

Vanderbilt operates the only Level 1 Trauma Center, the only Level 4 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and the only Level 3 Burn Unit in its region. (Each of those levels represents the highest in its field.)The LifeFlight helicopter ambulance service has four helicopters and an airplane transport and makes more than 1,500 flights a year. Vanderbilt also offers an organ transplantation center. Vanderbilt's first kidney transplant was in 1962; since then there have been more than 3,000 kidneys transplanted at Vanderbilt. VUMC has also had more than 600 liver transplants and 600 heart and lung transplants. Among Vanderbilt’s other transplant milestones were Tennessee's first pancreas transplant in 1985, the first successful heart-lung transplant in the state, in 1987, the first pediatric heart transplant in the state in 1987, and the first triple organ transplant of heart, lungs and liver in 2000. [ [http://www.vanderbilthealth.com/transplant/10688 Vanderbilt Transplant - History ] ] The Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center is one of 42 National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers, and the only one in Tennessee that provides treatment for adult and pediatric cancers. [ [http://www.cancer.gov Comprehensive Cancer Information - National Cancer Institute ] ] The center is also a member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, a non-profit alliance of 21 centers focused on improving quality and efficiency of cancer care. [ [http://www.nccn.org NCCN - Cancer Guidelines for Patients and Physicians by Cancer Experts ] ]

Research

VUMC ranked 12th among the 125 medical schools in the United States in receipt of research funding from the National Institutes of Health in 2007 and remains one of the fastest growing programs in the country.

Education

Both the Vanderbilt School of Medicine and the Vanderbilt School of Nursing rank in the top 20 in the "U.S. News & World Report" rankings. The School of Medicine was founded in 1874 and currently has 428 students, including 37 M.D./Ph.D. students. There are 1,800 faculty members in the School of Medicine.

The School of Nursing was founded in 1908. It became a part of the Medical Center in 1984 and phased out its undergraduate nursing degree in 1989 and became exclusively a graduate school with a mission of educating advanced level nurses. One of the innovative programs of the school is the Bridge program, which admits students from educational backgrounds other than nursing and allows them to complete a course of work leading to an advanced practice nursing degree. The school also offers doctorates in both research and clinical nursing. There are 635 students and 171 full time faculty at the School of Nursing.

References

External links

* [http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/ Vanderbilt Medical Center]
* [http://www.vanderbilthealth.com/ VanderbiltHealth.com - For Patients and Visitors]