Dean’s Rounds: Issue #2

Dear VP&S Community,

One of the greatest joys of a career in academic medicine is seeing the impact that our students and mentees have on the world around them. At this time of year, our thoughts often turn to what we are grateful for, and I have been thinking about our community’s remarkable commitment to the best possible education and training. It has been a busy and innovative time in education at VP&S, and I wanted to share a few thoughts from my recent meetings and discussions.

The Vagelos Institute’s Biomedical Research Education (VIBRE) PhD Pathway, announced in September and led by Hashim Al-Hashimi, associate dean for biomedical graduate education, is off to a running start with the appointment of 14 directors of graduate studies, chosen for their commitment to and prior experience with training scientists in each PhD track research area. VIBRE, which aims to rethink how we train, support, and foster the careers of PhD students and early career physician-scientists, has created new resources in mentoring and career development, including annual trainings for research faculty mentors, a PhD career ladder program, and courses in career pathways and professional skills for students. Over the next six months, VIBRE will recruit its first cohort for fall 2026 and will develop a new curriculum, including transdisciplinary courses that connect traditional disciplines in new ways.

Jay Vyas, associate dean for academic innovation, and Monica Lypson, vice dean for education, recently discussed with me their aims to better support and train our physician-scientists and to foster scientific curiosity in MD students. I’m looking forward to the inaugural VP&S physician-scientist symposium on December 10, hosted by Jay, which will explore how we can better link discovery science and clinical care. Beginning in January 2026, an updated curriculum will be rolled out to medical students in the major clinical year that uses cases from clinical services to highlight how advances in basic sciences provide unique insights into the mechanisms of disease. A commitment to supporting curiosity and inquiry throughout medical training has always set VP&S apart, and I have no doubt that this innovative approach will continue this tradition.

Artificial intelligence is impacting all areas of academic medicine, and our educational programs are at the forefront of that change. We are extremely fortunate that the VP&S Department of Biomedical Informatics (DBMI) is leading this new era, from fundamental research in AI to the ethical and societal implications of AI use in medicine and health care. Building on their extraordinary track record in training leaders in health IT, DBMI is developing programs to educate a wide array of learners in health-related AI, including an online certification program for clinicians who aspire to be institutional decision-makers in AI and an MS in AI for medicine and health aimed at computer scientists in partnership with Columbia Engineering. The AI@VP&S Initiative is particularly focused on education and training and is creating open events for our community to learn more about the impact of AI, including the outstanding recent symposium on foundation models that engaged many members of the VP&S community in robust discussions. Many thanks to Noémie Elhadad, chair of DBMI, and professors Mohammed AlQuraishi, Matthew McDermott, and Raul Rabadan for co-chairing the symposium and to everyone who is part of the AI@VP&S Initiative for their engagement in this critical area.

Over the last months, the educational leadership team has been busy preparing for the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) site visit in January 2026—a part of the medical school accreditation process that occurs every eight years. Accreditation provides an important opportunity to ensure that we are driving excellence, particularly by understanding our students’ experiences and perspectives and using that information to improve our processes, structures, and culture across all our missions. We have made great progress over the last months in strengthening how we do that work, and I could not be more committed to building on those changes to make VP&S the best possible place to study and learn across the health and biomedical sciences. 

Finally, considerable work is underway to advance the success of our health profession programs including occupational therapy, physical therapy, genetic counseling, and human nutrition, among others. Building on the recommendations of a taskforce led by Joel Stein, chair of rehabilitation and regenerative medicine, we will create a division of health professions education, within the office of the vice dean of education, to develop and implement better ways to support these programs’ needs and facilitate the development of new programs in key areas of need and opportunity. Early areas of focus for this office will include supporting access to appropriate teaching space (including a survey of CUIMC classroom/instructional space in January 2026) and addressing recent federal caps of student loans that could impede students from pursuing their degrees of choice. I’m grateful to everyone who participated in the taskforce, to all the faculty and administrators involved in making these programs so successful despite challenges, and to Monica Lypson for her commitment to this work.  

With profound gratitude for all that you do, and optimism for what lies ahead, I hope each of you has a restful holiday break.

All my best,

Katrina Armstrong, MD
Executive Vice President for Health and Biomedical Sciences
Dean, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons