Columbia University Department of Medicine

Summary

The Department has been committed to excellence in teaching, research, and patient care since its founding as part of King’s College (later Columbia University) in 1767. We are a diverse department with thirteen divisions. We maintain a dedicated and outstanding faculty of over 1300 physicians and scientists, train an outstanding housestaff of about 200 (including research fellows and students), and retain a support staff of approximately 350. We are the largest clinical department in the College of Physicians & Surgeons, with a budget close to $130 million.

Our education and teaching efforts are nationally recognized, our internal medicine residency continues to be one of the finest programs in the country, and our subspecialty training positions are increasingly competitive.

Our physicians consistently provide outstanding patient care in many settings, from hospitals and clinics to private offices. If you are new to the area, you can find out about our physicians in Find a Doctor. You may also wish to consider participating as a research subject in a clinical trial. We encourage community physicians to go to our consultation and patient referral site. The Department of Medicine is a leader in research in areas such as diabetes, obesity, atherosclerosis, and lipid metabolism, and we are always working to bridge the gap between research and patient care through translational research. We are also fortunate enough to be surrounded by institutional strengths at Columbia in the basic sciences and public health. We are able to access many centers, from within the Department and without, that provide opportunities for collaborative research. Faculty research is well funded from a diverse pool of sponsors, including the National Institutes of Health.