Office of the Chairman

Eric G. Neilson, M.D.

Welcome to the website for the Department of Medicine at Vanderbilt University. The Department was established in 1925 following a complete reorganization of the School of Medicine. Physician-scientists have led our program for 84 years, and it is a great privilege to serve as the seventh Chairman.

The Department of Medicine has over 600 faculty assigned to 12 traditional divisions and several interdisciplinary research centers. 126 residents are enrolled in clinical training and 292 fellows and graduate students are working in its laboratories. By the end of fiscal year 2009, clinical faculty in the Department of Medicine will have visited with approximately 450,000 outpatients and admitted over 15,600 patients to the Vanderbilt University Hospital (2008 Honor Roll Hospital in US News) or the on-campus Nashville Veterans Administration Hospital. The Department also has a diverse research portfolio currently supported by more than $160,000,000 of annual funding. In 2008, it was ranked 5th in NIH funding for research among all Departments of Medicine in US medical schools and 14th in ranking by US News in 2007. 

Academic departments of medicine in research-intensive medical schools are complex organisms. Their faculty must serve patient care and biomedical discovery with unrestrained excellence. Amidst this complexity, departments must also seek new ways to mentor young learners and developing faculty. This requires a collaborative and outwardly directed organization functioning in partnership with its members. Optimism and measured success is one of the remarkable strengths of our Vanderbilt faculty.

Our Department has a long history of training leaders for internal medicine, makes a major commitment to translational research, plays a dominant role in medical center teaching, and takes great pride in helping grow the national visibility of the Vanderbilt Medical Center. One of our prize assets is superb Division leadership. From this group springs the Department's highest academic standards and focus on the traditional values of patient care, knowledge seeking, diversity, mentorship, education, and professionalism. We are also privileged to work with superb residents, fellows, and students as part of our teaching mission.

Finally, the Department of Medicine operates in a large community with wonderful providers whom we value. We welcome warm relations and hope our local colleagues, many of whom have roots at Vanderbilt, will take advantage of our programs in continuing medical education as well as our practice network affiliations. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of help.

Eric G. Neilson, M.D.
Hugh Jackson Morgan Professor of Medicine and Cell and Developmental Biology
Chairman, Department of Medicine
Physician-in-Chief, Vanderbilt University Hospital
D-3100 MCN
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Nashville, TN 37232-2358
Phone: 615-322-3146
FAX: 615-343-9391
eric.neilson@vanderbilt.edu

Assistant to the Chair
Ms. Suzanne Alexander
Suzanne.Alexander@vanderbilt.edu