About Us

Our mission is to foster an ethical and civil community within the medical center, in which individuals feel accepted, respected, and supported while growing in their respective careers. To that end, we support departments across Columbia University Irving Medical Center by providing faculty, researchers, students, and staff tools to promote and support professionalism, as well as providing resources and training to address professionalism lapses.  

Our vision is to make Columbia University Irving Medical Center an institution where faculty, researchers, students, and staff are respected, supported, feel they belong and may thrive professionally in order to further CUIMC’s missions of education, research, patient care, and community outreach in a positive and welcoming environment.  

Professionalism is the way we put into action our shared mission to improve the health of our patients and communities, to educate and train the next generation of healthcare providers, and to pursue new discovery through excellent, compassionate, humanistic care for ourselves, each other, and those we serve.

It is a practice of individuals, teams, and systems and includes four core components:

1. Trustworthiness: Being truthful, reliable, and seeking help when needed
2. Humility: Reflecting on how we can continue to improve our ability to meet our mission
3. Respect: Contributing to a culture of mutual support, critical consciousness,  and continued growth where individual differences are valued and people feel respected
4. Excellence: Developing, maintaining, and applying our ability to meet our responsibilities as health professionals across different domains and contexts

The Office of Professionalism has strategic alliances with CUIMC Human Resources (HR), Office of Institutional Equity (OIE), Postdoctoral Affairs, the Ombuds Office, CUIMC Deans of Students, Cope Columbia, New York-Presbyterian Hospital (NYP) Respect, Research Misconduct Compliance and Training, Public Safety, and others. Thus, those seeking help will be directed to other campus offices when issues require resources or compliance processes not within the scope of the responsibilities of the Office of Professionalism.

The Office collaborates with a broad range of campus partners to:

• resolve conflicts that detract from a productive, respectful work environment;
• to promote tolerance across differences; and
• to provide learning resources and other tools to promote and foster the development of communication and other skills that result in improved team work.