Health Guide USA Commentary: Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Our Trusted Link for February, 2022

One of the largest academic medical centers in the southeastern U.S., Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) is ranked #20 in the 2022 U.S. News Best Hospitals Honor roll. Its hospital system is nationally ranked in nine adult specialties and ten children's specialties. Its most highly ranked hospital programs are for Ear, Nose & Throat (#10) and Pediatric Urology (#8). VUMC has the only Level I trauma center in the region, the only Level 3 Burn Center, and the only Level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

The Vanderbilt University School of Medicine began in 1851 as part of the University of Nashville but was upgraded and relocated in 1874 after Cornelius Vanderbilt funded the new university. In 2022, the medical school was ranked #13 by U.S. News & World Report for its research program. Two departments ranked among the top 10: Internal Medicine: 9th, and Anesthesiology: 10th. The Vanderbilt biomedical research programs were ranked #12 in 2021 for the amount of peer-reviewed funding received from the National Institutes of Health.

The Vanderbilt School of Nursing Master's degree program is ranked #8 by U.S. News & World Report, and the Doctor of Nursing Practice program is ranked #6. Their innovative "bridge" program admits students from non-nursing backgrounds and offers a pathway to an advanced nursing degree. The Frist Center for Nursing Informatics provides access to the latest technology for education, management, and patient care.

Milestones

In 1907, an early anesthesia machine was developed at VUMC by Dr. James Tayloe Gwathmey.
In 1933, Dr. Alfred Blalock and assistant Vivien Thomas pioneered cardiothoracic surgery for infants born with “blue baby syndrome.”
In the early 1940s, Dr. Ernest Goodpasture developed the method of culturing vaccines in chick embryos, which allowed the mass production of vaccines for smallpox, typhus, and yellow fever.
In 1961, Dr. Mildred Stahlman was the first in the nation to provide a newborn with lifesaving respiratory therapy, leading to her founding the first modern neonatal intensive care unit in the world at VUMC.
In 1971 Earl Sutherland, Jr., received a Nobel Prize for his discovery of cyclic AMP, showing how hormones affect health.
In 1972, Vanderbilt initiated its Pediatric and Neonatal Transport (originally called 'Angel Transport') service for pediatric critical care.
Dr. Stanley Cohen shared a Nobel Prize in 1986 for the discovery of epidermal growth factor.
In 2001, VUMC began using StarPanel, the first fully integrated electronic health record developed for a hospital in-house by Dario Giuse, associate professor of Biomedical Informatics
In 2006, the first Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science was awarded to a woman scientist of national reputation with a stellar record of research accomplishments, and who mentors women in science
In 2007, Vanderbilt launched BioVU, which has become one of the world's largest DNA databanks.