Weill Cornell Medicine: A History of Cornell's Medical School

by Antonio M. Gotto, Jennifer Moon, Laurie H. Glimcher (Foreword by)

Overview

Weill Cornell Medicine is a story of continuity and transformation. Throughout its colorful history, Cornell’s medical school has been a leader in education, patient care, and research—from its founding as Cornell University Medical College in 1898, to its renaming as Weill Cornell Medical College in 1998, and now in its current incarnation as Weill Cornell Medicine.

In this insightful and nuanced book, dean emeritus Antonio M. Gotto Jr., MD, and Jennifer Moon situate the history of Cornell’s medical school in the context of the development of modern medicine and health care. The book examines the triumphs, struggles, and controversies the medical college has undergone. It recounts events surrounding the medical school’s beginnings as one of the first to accept female students, its pioneering efforts to provide health care to patients in the emerging middle class, wartime and the creation of overseas military hospitals, medical research ranging from the effects of alcohol during Prohibition to classified partnerships with the Central Intelligence Agency, and the impact of the Depression, 1960s counterculture, and the Vietnam War on the institution. The authors describe how the medical school built itself back up after nearing the brink of financial ruin in the late 1970s, with philanthropic support and a renewal of its longstanding commitments to biomedical innovation and discovery.

Central to this story is the closely intertwined, and at times tumultuous, relationship between Weill Cornell and its hospital affiliate, now known as New York–Presbyterian. Today the medical school’s reach extends from its home base in Manhattan to a branch campus in Qatar and to partnerships with institutions in Houston, Tanzania, and Haiti. As Weill Cornell Medicine relates, the medical college has never been better poised to improve health around the globe than it is now.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781501703669
Publisher:	Cornell University Press
Publication date:	04/19/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	312
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Antonio Gotto Jr., MD, is Dean Emeritus of Weill Cornell Medicine. He is the author of many books, most recently Contemporary Diagnosis and Management of Lipid Disorders, and coauthor most recently of The Living Heart in the 21st Century. Jennifer Moon is Editorial Administrator at Weill Cornell Medicine. Laurie H. Glimcher, MD, is Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medicine and Provost for Medical Affairs, Cornell University.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Laurie H. Glimcher, MD
1 Origins
2 Clinical Innovation and a Historic Partnership
3 A Move to Manhattan's Upper East Side
4 The Medical School in Wartime
5 Postwar Boom
6 The Expansive 1960s
7 A Decade of Malaise
8 Discord and Disrepair
9 Renaming and Rebirth
10 Forging Ahead in the Twenty-First Century

What People are Saying About This

Kenneth Ludmerer

Antonio M. Gotto Jr., MD, and Jennifer Moon have provided an insightful, engaging, authoritative account of a great medical school, enlivened and enriched by their own participation in the school's development and their personal knowledge of many of the important figures in its history. Those interested in Weill Cornell Medicine will enjoy this book; so will readers interested in medical education and higher education more generally.

David J. Skorton

Weill Cornell Medicine is a well-written, fascinating review and analysis of the history and transformation of one prominent American academic medical institution. More important, this story illuminates the seismic changes that have occurred over the past century in biomedical science in general and medical schools in particular. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the past, present, and future of American medicine and medical training.

Rosemary A. Stevens

Weill Cornell Medicine is a candid, well-researched, and engaging study of an American medical school as told from the perspective of each of its deans—the first traveling in his own horse and carriage, the last flying routinely across the world. The remarkable individuals described here define the personality and scope of the enterprise, make bold efforts to change as the external climate changes, tussle with the associated hospital, plan mergers (the first in 1912), sponsor new buildings, and chase the money to fulfill their dreams. Each medical school has its own idiosyncratic history, with the history of Weill Cornell Medicine intimately tied to the generosity of New York philanthropists. By focusing on leadership, however, the authors fill a hole in the broader historical literature on medical education and medical institutions. This is a great read. The dean's job is never easy!

Editorial Reviews

Weill Cornell Medicine is a valuable contribution to the history of medical education in the United States. There are relatively few histories of medical schools, and most are celebratory volumes that do not incorporate information gleaned from archival records. This institutional history provides insight into the challenges Cornell Medical College has faced since it was established by the trustees of Cornell University in 1898. The authors relied on internal reports, newspaper stories, interviews, and first-hand knowledge to explain how a series of deans and other top administrators confronted problems and seized opportunities.

Bulletin of the History of Medicine - W. Bruce Fye