CUIMC's History Of Resilience And Change

When the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons celebrates its 300^th anniversary in 2067, this year's challenges may seem like a minor setback.

"Not a week goes by when someone stops me to say this must be the most stressful and difficult time in our history," said James McKiernan, senior vice dean for clinical affairs and CEO of ColumbiaDoctors, during a special campus event, "Columbia University and CUIMC: A History of Resilience and Change."

"And I thought, is it?"

Though McKiernan is an avid reader of Columbia history, he admitted (in his disclosures slide), that he's not a historian. So, prior to the presentation, he tapped historical resources in CUIMC's Augustus Long Library and consulted with Katherine Satriano, head of archives and special collections.

At the event, McKiernan and Satriano shared some key moments of resilience, innovation, and transformation across the University and medical center's history and presented them to the faculty, staff, and students. The event was organized by the Office of Well-Being and emerged from the office's listening sessions with staff, "who suggested that learning how Columbia has endured in the past would give us insights for today," said Monica Lypson, vice dean for education.

During times of change, Satriano said, identifying history that resonates with us can shed light on the community values that drive our resilience. She invited audience members to consider what they find meaningful in historical responses to challenges, such as adaptability, persistence, problem-solving, and prioritizing our mission and achievable goals.

McKiernan and Satriano discussed several historic moments that have been overcome, including:

• The American Revolution: Many of the faculty of King's College and its medical school were loyalists to the Crown and joined the British Army; the college president was chased out of town by a mob and escaped only when a college student, Alexander Hamilton, kept the crowd at bay; the medical school was used as barracks for troops.
• On the brink in 1917: At the end of the 19^th century, medical schools began creating affiliations with hospitals to replace curricula full of lectures with experiential learning. P&S reached out to neighboring Roosevelt Hospital three times and was rejected each time. In 1911, P&S struck a deal with Presbyterian Hospital, and in 1928 Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center opened in Washington Heights, becoming the first academic medical center in the United States and catalyzing the spread of other medical centers across the country.
• The Great Depression: Amidst budget cuts, the members of the nursing department offered to cut their own salaries instead of cutting and compromising nursing care. Full salary was later reinstated and the pay lost for five months was returned. The medical center still made investments for the future, opening the Eye Institute in 1933.

When we examine history, we learn how our forebears mobilized around challenges and set the course for the medical center's future growth, Satriano said. "We are all a link in a lineage of resilience."

The event was part of the Office of Well-Being's Community & Connection Learning Series, aimed at cultivating empathy and community connection.