Penn State Hershey Medical Center - Penn State College of Medicine

As of May 2011, the Penn State College of Medicine has graduated 3,907 physicians (M.D.) and 1,004 scientists with Ph.D. or M.S. degrees. The College of Medicine offers degree programs in anatomy, bioengineering, biomedical sciences, bioinformatics and genomics, genetics, immunology and infectious diseases, integrative biosciences, molecular medicine, molecular toxicology, neuroscience, pharmacology, and physiology. Two postdoctoral programs leading to an M.S. degree in Laboratory Animal Medicine, the only such program in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and an M.S. in Public Health Sciences. Each year, more than 550 resident physicians are trained in medical specialties at Penn State Hershey Medical Center. Nursing students from Penn State College of Health and Human Development B.S. degree program rotate through the Medical Center for clinical courses each term, and students from other Penn State health-related programs and other institutions come to the campus for clinical experience. The extended B.S. degree program for nurses is offered in conjunction with the College of Health and Human Development.

College of Medicine statistics: (as of 2010)

Doctor of Medicine - '10

• Nearly 1 in 6 applicants to U.S. medical schools applies to Penn State College of Medicine.
• 7,649 applicants sought entry into the program’s Class of 2013. Of that figure, 144 students matriculated.
• The entering class population is 51 percent female, 49 percent male, and 9 percent under-represented minorities.
• 796 full-time and 55 part-time faculty members.
• Scholarships range from $500 to $10,000; 91 percent of our students receive financial aid.
• 3,907 alumni

Resident and Fellowship Programs – '10

• 22 residency/fellowship programs
• 33 sub-specialty programs
• 5 affiliated hospitals for residents
• 3,474 medical residency alumni

Graduate Programs – '10

• 337 applicants sought entry for the 2008-09 school year with 203 currently pursuing graduate degrees.
• 218 College of Medicine staff members serve as Penn State’s graduate faculty as teachers, thesis advisors, and mentors for graduate students.
• Most full-time students receive graduate assistantships, including a stipend; tuition remission; and health, vision, and dental insurance. Students supported by Penn State College of Medicine receive assistantships of at least $23,028, and all Ph.D. students receive a stipend and tuition remission.
• 1,004 alumni

Research

• In the 1980s, College of Medicine researchers led by John Kreider and Mary Kay Howett and funded by the Jake Gittlen Cancer Research Foundation perfected a technique for propagating the human papilloma virus (HPV), the primary cause of cervical cancer. This and other lab techniques and materials developed by microbiologists in the college helped lead to vaccines against HPV, the first of which earned FDA approval in 2006.
• A group of basic and clinical scientists secured the College of Medicine’s largest ever nongovernmental grant to support their work related to diabetic retinopathy, an eye disease that is a leading cause of blindness. The nearly $9 million from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International will help our researchers translate what they learn in the lab into better diagnostic tests and treatments for patients.
• The College of Medicine received a $2.8 million federal matching grant to enlarge the existing Drug Discovery Core Facility The new facility will promote the translation of advances in basic biomedical research and clinical investigation into new agents that will improve the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and cure of disease and the promotion of good health. The grant, supported with ARRA (“stimulus”) funds, will enable renovation of a 6,600-square-foot (610 m2) facility in the Biomedical Research Building and 1,700 square feet (160 m2) of related workspace to support the Drug Discovery Program.
• A team of Penn State Hershey scientists and physicians have been awarded a 7-year, $53.9 million grant to support the Data Coordinating Center (DCC) for AsthmaNet, a nationwide clinical research network that will develop and conduct clinical trials to address important questions regarding the clinical management of patients with asthma and the development and evaluation of novel therapies. The DCC will have a central role in all stages of AsthmaNet studies, from design and development to implementation, data analysis, and interpretation, and dissemination of the results.
• The Food and Drug Administration has funded a 3-year, 1.2 million phase 3 clinical trial at Penn State Hershey to evaluate the use of calfactant in reducing mortality among children with Acute Lung Injury, a common life-threatening complication among pediatric leukemia and lymphoma and hematopoetic stem cell transplant recipients. As more effective therapies are developed for the prevention and treatment of acute lung injury, outcomes will continue to improve for pediatric cancers which are responsible for more deaths in children over one year of age than any other disease.
• Penn State Hershey investigators are working on a 5-year, $2.3 million study from the Centers for Disease Control to evaluate low cost interventions to enhance a state-wide program of post-natal parent education about violent infant shaking. The goal is to appreciably reduce the incidence of abusive head trauma in Pennsylvania. Abusive head trauma is the leading cause of traumatic deaths and injury to young children and infants.
• The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation awarded a $7.5 million grant to Penn State Hershey investigators to study the effect of a low dose of antiestrogen medications and omega-3 fatty acids on reducing high breast density, which can increase the risk of breast cancer.
• Supported by a $3.2 million Department of Defense appropriation, the Penn State Center for Pharmacogenetics will create a repository of samples from patients treated at the Cancer Institute to study individual responses to therapeutic drugs and environmental toxins. Researchers will use the repository to identify specific gene variations, or molecular signatures, in cancer cells and use that knowledge to accelerate the identification of new molecular entities and ultimately develop more effective and personalized ways to prevent and treat cancer.