Admissions

Pictured Left to Right: Wendy Hernandez, Rene Napoletano, Ellen Perez

Location: P&S 1st Floor, Room 1-416
Associate Dean: Andrew Frantz, M.D.
Director: Ellen Perez
Email: ep121@columbia.edu
Phone: (212) 305-3595

The Admissions Office staff welcomes you as you begin your interview process at the College of Physicians and Surgeons. We organize your visit to our school for your interview along with a student-led tour of our campus and assist you in any way we can during the application and interview process.

The P&S Alumni Association and You

Pictured Left to right: Katherine Couchells, Mary Garris, Elizabeth Williams, Sonia Winters, Faye Farese, Peter Wortsman

Associate Dean: Anke Nolting, Ph.D.
Email: aln1@columbia.edu
Director: Elizabeth Williams
Email: ej75@columbia.edu

Back To The Future

Welcome to the Alumni Association of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the oldest (and most congenial) medical school alumni group in the nation. Your membership really began the day you became a P&S student and will continue throughout your life. You are what we’re all about! Our goal is to insure the quality of your education and the quality of your life while you’re here.

Back in 1859, a couple of P&S graduates got together to foster a sense of fellowship and, above all, to serve as a benevolent influence on the future of the school. One of the Association’s first philanthropic acts was to raise money to build a laboratory and lecture hall. After 145 years, with a membership now at 7,130, we remain committed to your present and our shared future.

• The Home-Away-From-Home Program matches new students with interested New York City Metropolitan area alumni on the basis of common concerns in medicine/research, alma maters and hobbies. The purpose is to promote mentor relationships and to help students cope with the often difficult transitional period in the first year.

• The Parents’ Day Program, an annual gathering at P&S, gives parents, other family members and significant others an opportunity to put themselves in students’ shoes and get a feel for the rigors and pleasures of the P&S student experience.

• The Minority Students’ Recruitment Program is coordinated by the Association’s Committee on Minority Student Affairs in conjunction with the Dean’s Office and the Black and Latino Students’ Organization. The Alumni Association hosts an annual dinner for minority applicants, students, alumni and faculty.

• The Externship Program permits students to get a real taste of medical life by spending a week shadowing alumni in their practice. Students generally reside with alumni, who, teaching by example, serve in the capacity of adjunct members to the P&S faculty.

• At Career Forums, sponsored by the Association through the Student-Alumni Relations Committee, alumni and faculty panelists from a variety of fields share their professional experiences and insights, helping current students make informed career choices.

• The Alumni/ae Career Advisory Service, a program established in 1997, sponsored by the Association, serves as a long-term resource assisting P&S students in their career decisions during and after medical school.

• The Host Program. To help smooth your transition from student to professional, the P&S Alumni Association sponsors an alumni-student Host Program. Our far-flung P&S alumni have always opened their homes and hearts to students on an informal basis. Many alumni around the country participate in this program to officially host visiting students during their internship and residency interviews, offering lodging and an insider’s glimpse at what it’s really like to practice in a particular field and geographic area.

As alumni-to-be, students play an important role in the work and deliberations of the Alumni Association. Our primary link is the Student-Alumni Relations Committee, whose student and alumni members meet regularly to address the most pressing student needs and concerns.

The Association supports a wide variety of student-related projects, including social events, scholarships and financial aid. We also take a special interest in Bard Hall, the student dorm, and designate funds for its improvement. You are the current beneficiary of the largesse of generations of P&S alumni whose staunch support is keeping your classrooms and lecture halls, laboratories, library, computer links and health and fitness facility at the cutting edge.

Long a mainstay of student life, the P&S Club, of which we are an enthusiastic sponsor, offers a wide range of extracurricular activities, including sports, concerts and theatrical performances

Our door is always open to you. The P&S Alumni Relations Office is located in Room 250 of the Black Building, at 630 West 168th Street. Please stop by and get acquainted with Alumni Director, Kathy Couchells and the staff. Or call us at (212) 305-1472.

 

Curricular Affairs

Pictured left to right: Janique Grant, Jamilette Gaton

Location: P&S 3-401
Senior Associate Dean: Ronald E. Drusin, M.D.
Email: red3@columbia.edu
Phone: (212) 305-4195 or (212) 305-4194

• Oversees the structure, content and quality of the curriculum
• Provides administrative support for interdisciplinary courses
• Prepares class schedules
• Schedules first and second year electives
• Coordinates the clinical assessment program for third year students
• Monitors course evaluations and provides feedback to course directors

Diversity Affairs

Staff (from left): Lydia Nunez, Shaneequa Green-Louissant,Natalya Neidwach, Richele Jordan-Davis

Assistant Dean: Richele Jordan-Davis, Ed.M.
Email: rlj10@columbia.edu

Associate Dean: Hilda Hutcherson, M.D.
Email: hyh1@columbia.edu

Phone: (212) 305-4157
Fax: (212) 305-1049
Web: www.oda-ps.cumc.columbia.edu

The Office of Diversity assists with the mission of recruiting, counseling, and nurturing qualified minority students as well as fostering diversity among students and faculty. Multiculturalism in the medical school environment is strongly supported. The Office of Diversity supports the Black and Latino Students Organization (BALSO), which provides a forum for student participation in campus minority affairs, student recruitment, and service activities in the local community. BALSO also assists and contributes to a variety of lectures centered on disparities in health, provide academic support services and sponsor social events on campus.

The Office of Diversity supports several outreach programs: Summer Medical and Dental Education Program, The State Pre-College Enrichment Program and The Minority Recruitment Day Conference. The Office of Diversity regularly provides pre-medical career counseling and advice to individual high school and college students.

Through these mechanisms P&S enjoys tremendous diversity throughout its student body, distinct faculty, and varied patient population. For further information contact the BALSO President or call the office at 305-4157.

Student Administrative Services

Pictured, standing left to right: Delfy Velasquez, Roselen Gonzalez, Joyce Burrus, Carmen Sierra, Anthony Bonano, Mery Suazo, Wendy Penalver Seated left to right: Tonya Anderson, Maria Santiago, Tamika Bryan,

Director: Anthony Bonano
Email: aeb127@columbia.edu

Associate Director: Tonya Anderson
Email: tra1@columbia.edu

Assistant Director: Carmen Sierra
Email: ces3@columbia.edu

Manager: Mery Suazo
Email: mms8@columbia.edu

Departmental Administrator: Tamika Bryan
Email: tb2232@columbia.edu

Staff

Roselen Gonzalez
Email: rg21@columbia.edu

Wendy Penalver
Email: wfp1@columbia.edu

Joyce Burrus
Email: jb2003@columbia.edu

Diana Parra
Email: dp2037@columbia.edu

Maria Santiago
Email: ms20@columbia.edu

Delfy Velazquez
Email: dv2140@columbia.edu

Provides registrar, student account, cashiering, and ID services including:

• Registration
• Certification for loan deferments
• Change of SSN, change of name
• Grades
• Transcripts
• Verification of attendance
• Billing and payment information
• Tuition and fees information
• Refunds based upon eligibility
• Tuition exemption processing
• Third party billing
• Clearing financial holds
• Student payments
• Stipend check/loan check disbursement
• Electronic fund transfers

Student Affairs

Back row left to right: Brian Paquette, Hazel Bonello, DeLonzo Rhodes, Ana Martinez-Tuma, Krystyna Cukrowski, Nicholas Gray Seated left to right: Joy Bailey, Dr. Lisa Mellman, Jessica Ash

Senior Associate Dean: Lisa A. Mellman, M.D. | mail: lam3@columbia.edu

Assistant Dean: Brian C. Paquette | mail: bp29@columbia.edu

Location: P&S 3-401
Phone: (212) 305-3806

Concerned with all aspects of students’ progress, academic and non-academic, throughout their four years at P&S, including:

• Academic accomplishments and/or problems
• Student counseling, personal/professional
• Planning student programs and schedules - Years 1 through 4
• Implementing on-line schedules and grading for clinical years
• Supervising programmatic development for five Advisory Deans
• Tracking of students on leave/in dual degree programs
• Ensuring compliance by students for HIPAA and evidence based medicine
• Overseeing logistics for students during clinical rotation at Stamford Hospital
• Coordinating fourth year exchange programs with Universities in Armenia, Australia, Chile, China, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Lebanon, Romania, Sweden, United Kingdom and Venezuela.
• Advising students on career decisions and postgraduate education
• Preparing Dean’s letters for postgraduate education
• Coordinating the “Match” process for fourth year students
• Conducting evaluations of residency programs by P&S graduates
• Letters of Recommendation

Serves on committees dealing with student-related concerns such as housing, security, curriculum, academic programs, liability insurance, student services

• Resource center for information on:
• Electives at U.S. medical schools
• Overseas electives
• Residency program brochures
• Organizing key student programs, including
• Orientation
• White Coat Ceremony
• Faculty Advisor System
• Student Advisory Tutoring Program
• Women in Medicine Seminars
• AOA
• Residency Honors Day Awards
• Steven Z. Miller Student Clinician Ceremony
• Class Day
• Graduation

Liaison with National Board of Medical Examiners, National Residency Matching Program, American Medical Association, Association of American Medical Colleges, Medical Society of the State of New York

Special Events

Program Coordinator: Krystyna Cukrowski
Email: kc17@columbia.edu
Phone: (212) 305-4028

• Coordinates special events such as Orientation, Dean’s Day for Medical Student Research, Class Day and Graduation
• Provides administrative support for National Institutes of Health student research fellowships: Dean’s Summer Research Fellowships and fourth year research electives.
• Serves as resource center for awards, competitions, fellowships
• Coordinates Women in Medicine group
• Prepares special reports
• Staffs Faculty committees

 

Student Financial Planning

Back row, left to right: Ideta Daniel, Lynn Wills, Ellen Spilker, Sandra Garcia. Front row: Aracelis Cuevas, Neris Goris, Jajaira Baez

Director: Ellen Spilker
Email: es29@columbia.edu

Location: Black Building Room 139

Phone: (212) 305-4100 Fax: (212) 305-0221

Senior Associate Director: Ideta Daniel | Email: ild1@columbia.edu
Associate Director: Sandra Garcia | Email: sb64@columbia.edu
Financial Aid Officer: Lynn Wills | Email: lw198@columbia.edu

• Evaluate students’ financial need, and award funds from school, federal, state and external sources
• Conduct debt management seminars during first year and again prior to graduation to assist students with managing their educational loans and understanding the basics of financial planning
• Provide personal financial counseling and budgeting help
• Liaison with Alumni and Development Offices to assist with fund raising efforts for scholarships and low-cost loans
• Oversee the Financial Aid Committee

Student Health Service

Pictured left to right: Triage Nurse: Brenda Johnson, LPN Junior Accountant: Jaqueline Paulino Physician Assistant: Mark Van Alstyne Insurance Associate: Eladia Goris Physician: Melanie Bernitz, MD Immunization Nurse: Elsa Cadena, RN, SHS Administrator: Kathryn Clark Senior Clerk, SHS: Dimissia De Los Santos Administrative Assistant: Dilenny De La Cruz Medical Assistant: Altagracia Villafana SHS Director: Polly Wheat, MD, Nurse Coordinator: Eileen Fox, RN

Director: Polly Wheat, M.D.
Email: w219@columbia.edu

Location: 60 Haven Avenue, Tower 1, Ground Floor- Clinical Services; 3E- Administrative Offices
Phone: (212) 305-3400
Emergencies: (212) 305-3400
Fax: (212)342-3955
Web: www.cumc.columbia.edu/student/health
Hours: Monday-Thursday, 8 a.m.–7 p.m.; Fri. 8 a.m.–4 p.m. (Closed Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3-4 p.m.)

Student Health Service (SHS) at Columbia University Medical Center is committed to advancing the health of each student and to promoting a healthy campus community through its goals of caring, healing, and educating. We provide a full range of primary care, mental health, and health promotion services, which are focused on your needs, both personal and as future clinicians. We seek to deliver care that is compassionate, informed, confidential, and cost-effective.

We offer the following easily accessible, on-campus services:

Medical Services

Phone: (212) 305-3400
SHS provides a full range of primary care medical services, occupational exposure evaluation and treatment, women’s health services, travel consultation, specialty care (both on-site and referral), and ancillary services, including on-site laboratory service in affiliation with our reference laboratory.

If you are also enrolled in the Student Health Insurance Plan administered by The Chickering Group, SHS is your gateway to the Aetna provider network. For further information on the Student Health Insurance Plan, visit www.chickering.com or contact Student Health Service.
Except as required by law, no information is released outside the Student Health Services without your written consent.

Associate Director of Mental Health Services: Dr. Burton Lerner

 

Mental Health Services

Phone: (212) 496-8491
Both psychiatrists and psychologists are available for any type of counseling or psycho-pharmacology issues. Appointments are made directly by contacting Dr. Burton Lerner at (212) 496-8491; you are entitled to 10 free visits each year, plus an additional 60 visits under the Chikering-Aetna insurance. These services are strictly confidential.

Health Promotion And Wellness-Wellness Works! Program

Phone: (212) 304-5564
Together with the Center for Student Wellness, the SHS provides health promotion and wellness in a number of areas, focusing on stress management, smoking cessation, sexual health, nutrition, and fitness. These programs are tailored to meet your needs. Both individual consultations and group programs are available.

Student Participation

We actively seek your feedback and suggestions for all aspects of the SHS. Please give us your ideas-either through your Student Health Advisory Committee representative, through the suggestion box in the SHS waiting room, via the feedback form on the website, or by email or telephone to the Director.

Immunizations

Phone: (212) 305-3400
SHS administers the public health screening and immunizations required by Columbia University Medical Center. The following are required before you will be allowed to register or attend classes.

• Positive titers indicating immunity to measles, mumps, and rubella. If any of these titers are negative or equivocal, another immunization with MMR is required.
• Immunity to varicella. If you have had chickenpox, a positive titer is required, If the titer is negative, varicella vaccine should be given. If you have not had chickenpox, two varicella immunizations at least one month apart are required.
• Record of three (3) Hepatitis B immunizations and a post-immunization titer indicating immunity.
• If the Hepatitis B post-immunization titer is not positive, Hepatitis B Surface antigen is required. If this titer is negative, a fourth dose of Hepatitis B vaccine should be given.
• A PPD skin test for tuberculosis within the past three (3) months. A chest x-ray is required if the PPD is positive. BCG is not a contra indication to placing a PPD.
• A History and Physical completed within the past twelve (12) months.
• A signed Receipt of Information regarding meningococcal vaccine is required.

Laboratory reports are required for all titers and antigens.

To download forms or for further information, visit our website at http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/student/health or call us at(212) 305-3400. We look forward to collaborating with you to maximize your health!