Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons, Columbia

Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, often known as VP&S, is a graduate school of Columbia University that is located on the health sciences campus (Columbia University Irving Medical Center) in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. Founded in 1767 as the medical department of King's College (now Columbia University), VP&S was the first medical school in the 13 American Colonies, and hence, the United States, to award the Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree. Beginning in 1993, VP&S also was the first medical school in the United States to hold a White Coat Ceremony, a tradition that now has become nearly universal among medical schools.