Albany Medical College (AMC) is a private medical school in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1839 by Alden March and James H. Armsby and is one of the oldest medical schools in the nation. A component of Union University, the college is part of the Albany Medical Center, which includes the Albany Medical Center Hospital.
Over its 170-year history, Albany Medical College has attracted and produced many leaders in medicine and research. Among its present and past faculty, researchers, and alumni there are two Nobel Prize winners, two Lasker Award winners, two MacArthur Fellowship recipients, one Gairdner Foundation International Award winner, former Surgeon General of the United States Army, former Surgeon General of the United States Air Force, several presidents and CEOs of major academic hospitals, as well as an early president and co-founder of the American Medical Association. AMC is attributed as the site where David S. Sheridan perfected the modern-day disposable catheter, among other major discoveries and innovations. Among AMC alumni accomplishments include the discovery of the hormone leptin, the invention of computed tomography, and the discovery of oral rehydration therapy.
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Academics
There are multiple courses of study at the college with tracks that end in an MD degree, as well as a Graduate Studies program with the following departments:
Center for Physician Assistant Studies
Center for Nurse Anesthesia
Alden March Bioethics Institute
Center for Cardiovascular Sciences
Center for Cell Biology and Cancer Research
Center for Immunology and Microbial Disease
Center for Neuropharmacology and Neuroscience
In addition to the traditional medical school application process, AMC reserves up to 50 places in its first-year class for participants in combined-degree programs. Students from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Union College and Siena College complete certain undergraduate requirements prior to matriculation at Albany Medical College, then finish their undergraduate degrees at AMC while concurrently earning their MDs. Programs range from a total of seven to eight years.
The AMC Physician Assistant Program was established in 1972, in collaboration with Hudson Valley Community College. Its graduates received from HVCC the A.A.S. in Physician Assistant Studies, and a certificate of completion from AMC. Since 2005, the program has granted a Master of Science in PA studies. The program's curriculum consists of a variety of courses in basic and medical science within four didactic terms and an additional twelve months of medical rotations.
Alden March Bioethics Institute
The Alden March Bioethics Institute (AMBI) is a multi-institutional bioethics research organization based at the Albany Medical College in New York. 26 faculty originate first-rate scholarship with the support of more than $3 million in federal and foundation grants. The Institute until recently housed The American Journal of Bioethics (AJOB) and bioethics.net. Its faculty direct a number of graduate programs including those offering the M.S. and Doctor of Professional Studies (D.P.S.) in Bioethics. The Institute is named in honor of Alden March, a 19th-century physician.
WAMC public radio
In October 1958, the college, alongside the medical center, started a public radio station, WAMC. The callsign comes from both the college and medical center. In 1980, citing financial burdens, the station was spun off to an independent entity, WAMC, Inc. WAMC is now the primary NPR station for the Albany area.
Notable alumni and faculty
Jacob M. Appel, bioethicist, is a graduate of AMC's Alden March Bioethics Institute.
Sir James W. Black, Visiting Professor, a Scottish doctor and pharmacologist who invented Propranolol, synthesized Cimetidine and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1988 for these discoveries.
Samuel Baldwin Ward, M.D., Ph.D., Dean of AMC 1905–1914.
Betty Q. Banker, pediatric neuropathologist and medical researcher
Kenneth Blackfan, well-known pediatric hematologist and mentor of Louis K. Diamond and Sidney Farber, proclaimed "father" of modern-day chemotherapy. Diamond-Blackfan Syndrome is named after him. Children's Hospital Boston is located on Blackfan Street, which is named after Blackfan.
Edward Bove, well known for his contributions to the repair of congenital heart defects, most notably hypoplastic left heart syndrome.
Steven J. Burakoff, cancer specialist and the author of both Therapeutic Immunology (2001) and Graft-Vs.-Host Disease: Immunology, Pathophysiology, and Treatment (1990)
Charles S. Butler, physician and a member of the New York State Assembly
Levi Ruggles Church, Canadian jurist.
Chester Bidwell Darrall, Union Army Surgeon and Republican Congressman from Louisiana in the latter 19th Century.
Thomas C. Durant, Vice President of the Union Pacific Railroad and creator of the financial structure which led to the Crédit Mobilier scandal