From national championship battles to breakthroughs in research, key appointments to beautiful #vandygrams, goodbyes to #VU2015 and hellos to #VU2019, take a look back at the year that was.

During the past year, Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) placed highly in several of the various rankings conducted by U.S. News and World Report.

Vanderbilt was ranked No. 15 on "U.S. News & World Report's" list of top national universities, its best-ever showing.

"U.S. News & World Report" has again named Vanderbilt University Medical Center among the premier specialty care providers in the nation, as well as the No. 1 hospital in the Metro Nashville area and the top hospital in Tennessee.

The Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt again has been named a national leader in pediatric health care by "U.S. News & World Report." Children’s Hospital achieved national rankings for a maximum of 10 out of 10 pediatric specialty programs.

Vanderbilt's School of Nursing and Peabody College of education and human development fared well in this year's "U.S. News & World Report" rankings.