Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons is guided by the principle that medical education is university education. The acquisition of knowledge and skills is important in professional education, but far more vital is a profound understanding of the science, the art, and the ethic within which both knowledge and skill are applied. As a part of Columbia University, the College builds its curriculum, selects its officers of instruction, and marshals its enormous resources of equipment and clinical experience to develop in the student this understanding of medicine. The Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons is part of a unique collection of health sciences schools that make up the Columbia University Medical Center, an integral part of the Washington Heights community in upper Manhattan—one of New York City's most diverse neighborhoods. Every day P&S faculty, staff, and students work towards our mission—to care, to discover, to educate, and to make life better for people in need.