About

Our Values

We are united by a common set of value statements:

• Love Learning
• Lead by Serving
• Live with Integrity
• Heal Together in Humility
• Welcome Difference

At Home at Belmont

Belmont is the perfect home for Nashville’s innovative, new medical school. Long known for its excellent education, dedicated faculty and student support, Belmont will provide incredible opportunities to students who decide to earn their MDs on campus. And with the institution’s longstanding partners across the health care industry, students in the Frist College of Medicine will benefit from numerous inter-professional healthcare opportunities already embedded across our campus.

Working alongside pharmacists, physical and occupational therapists, social workers and nurses, budding physicians will experience inter-professional team environments that are present in all settings of care across the country. This on-campus experience will complement clinical training experiences that will prepare our graduates for life on the job after their studies are complete.

The College’s Namesake

A Nashville native, Dr. Thomas “Tommy” Frist, Jr. is a graduate of Nashville’s Montgomery Bell Academy and Vanderbilt University. In 1965, he graduated from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and returned to Vanderbilt for his surgical residency, which was interrupted by a two-year stint as a flight surgeon at Robins Air Force Base during the Vietnam War.

While in the military, Dr. Frist had an idea for a company that would bring hospitals together to share resources. In 1968, alongside his father Dr. Thomas F. Frist, Sr. and Jack C. Massey, Dr. Frist co-founded Hospital Corporation of America (now HCA Healthcare). As one of the nation’s first investor-owned hospital companies, HCA Healthcare modernized the way health care was delivered while keeping patient care and safety first. Dr. Frist served HCA in various leadership roles including President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman. He remained on the Board of Directors until 2009 and currently serves as Chairman Emeritus.

An active philanthropist and civic volunteer, Dr. Frist founded the United Way Tocqueville Society. He has served as Chair of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, and is the recipient of many honors including United Way of America's “Lifetime Achievement Award” and the Nashville Business Journal’s “Best in Business Lifetime Achievement Award,” as well as being inducted into the inaugural class of the Tennessee Health Care Hall of Fame. He is the founder of The Frist Foundation, a Nashville grant maker that has provided hundreds of millions of dollars to Nashville nonprofit organizations over the last 40 years.