Vanderbilt University Medical Center has built a strong reputation as a leader in medical education, research and patient care throughout the Southeast and the nation over the course of its 127-year history. At its heart the Vanderbilt University Medical Center is driven by discovery and the immediate incorporation of new knowledge into innovation in patient care and physician and nurse education.

Medical Education
The School of Medicine, originally part of the University of Nashville, was incorporated into Vanderbilt University in 1874 and awarded its first Vanderbilt medical degrees in 1875. Since the early days, a Vanderbilt medical education has been held in high esteem among its peer institutions, and that legacy continues.

The School of Medicine attracts among the most accomplished and talented students in the country. They are drawn by the quality of the training, the excellence of the faculty, the collegial atmosphere between faculty and students and the close personal attention that students receive. The diverse first-year class of 2008, selected from a pool of 3,741 applicants, represents 32 states and holds undergraduate degrees from 58 different colleges and universities. The School of Medicine placed 15th among 125 medical schools in US News & World Report's 2004 survey, "America's Best Graduate Schools."

Nuclear Medicine Residency Program

Program Goals
The major goal of the Vanderbilt University Nuclear Medicine Resident training program is to facilitate the professional and personal development of physicians-in-training (PIT) so that they are prepared to practice nuclear medicine competently in academic or private practice while fulfilling the mission of VUMC: education, patient care, and research. We subscribe to the American Board of Nuclear Medicine Position Statement Components of Professional Competence for Nuclear Medicine Physicians, (J Nucl Med 2003;44:988), and we are committed to teaching each resident the general competencies of patient care: medical knowledge, interpersonal skills and communication, practice-based learning and improvement, professionalism and ethical behavior, and an understanding of the basic applications of system-based practice. The practice of nuclear medicine includes diagnostic, therapeutic and investigational uses of radionuclides. At the completion of the training, each PIT should demonstrate:

* Extensive knowledge of normal and disease states.