Prospective Students and Trainees

School of Medicine Resources

Penn Medicine is a $4.07 billion enterprise dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and quality patient care. It comprises The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS). Dr. Arthur Rubenstein is the Executive Vice President of the University for the Health System and Dean of the Medical School. Dr Rubenstein oversees both UPHS and the School of Medicine. PENN Medicine employs more than 20,000 people and had total operating revenue in FY2010 of $4.07 billion.

The School of Medicine was founded in 1765 by John Morgan and William Shippen, native Philadelphians who graduated from the medical school of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. The emphasis, from the outset, was to integrate medical research with education. The first students of the school graduated in 1768. Today, Penn's School of Medicine is ranked #3 in the nation in U.S. News & World Report's most recent ranking of top research-oriented medical schools.

Education at the School of Medicine

Presently there are over 1800 full-time faculty; 1,019 residents and fellows; and 741 post-doctoral fellows working in 57 departments, divisions and centers.

In FY2011, there are 595 full-time pre-doctoral students.

In FY2011, there are also 746 medical students. Generally, the first year class numbers approximately 150 students.

There are144 biomedical graduate students enrolled in combined degree programs, leading to an M.D. combined with a Ph.D., Master of Bioethics, Master of Science in Clinical Epidemiology (MSCE), Master of Public Health (MPH), or Master of Business Administration (MBA).

Research at the School of Medicine

The School of Medicine has continued to enhance its leadership role in biomedical research.

In federal FY2010, the Penn SOM received $507.6 million in NIH research awards.

The School of Medicine was awarded more than 330 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (“stimulus”) grants from NIH with total project costs of more than $180 million.

A total of 44 patents were received by School of Medicine faculty in FY2010.

Penn is a major research facility of the Howard Hughes Medical Institution (HHMI) with 8 HHMI investigators.

The commitment of the institution to interdisciplinary research across the university is exemplified by the recently founded Penn Genomics Institute (PGI) under the direction of James Eberwine and Junhyong Kim. The PGI has core space in the newly developed Biological Life Sciences Building, but will recruit relevant faculty throughout the campus.

An important institutional resource which supports patient oriented research is the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics (ITMAT). Under the leadership of director Garret A. FitzGerald, M.D., ITMAT supports research at the interface of basic and clinical research, with a particular focus on the development of new and safer therapeutic entities. ITMAT includes its own faculty and basic research space, the former General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) which has been integrated with that of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia to form the Clinical and Translational Research Center (CTRC) and an expanding repertoire of cores, programs, and centers designed to support research endeavors between proof of concept in cellular and animal model systems across the translational divide into proof of concept and dose selection in humans. Educational programs relating to translational research, including a newly founded Masters in Translational Research, are also housed within ITMAT. ITMAT has expanded to include investigators focused on clinical and translational research in all schools at Penn, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the Wistar Institute, and the University of Sciences in Philadelphia. These partner institutions competed successfully for the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) funded under the NIH Roadmap, designating ITMAT as the academic home for the program.

Additional core facilities within the School of Medicine support cellular biology, sequencing, genetic overexpression and deletion in mice, studies in zebrafish and protein crystallography.

Also affiliated with the research and educational functions of the School of Medicine are the Philadelphia Veterans Administration Medical Center (PVAMC) and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia..

The University of Pennsylvania Health System was founded in 1993 as the nation's first integrated academic health system. It includes three wholly-owned hospitals: The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP), Pennsylvania Hospital, and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center; a faculty practice plan (Clinical Practices of the University of Pennsylvania); a primary-care provider network (Clinical Care Associates); two multispecialty satellite facilities (Penn Medicine at Radnor and Penn Medicine at Cherry Hill); the Penn Center for Rehabilitation and Care; and UPHS Home Healthcare and Hospice Services.

The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) was the first formal University Hospital in the United States, founded in 1874 with a commitment to bedside teaching by faculty, a model developed in the British Isles. The Hospital comprises 776 licensed beds. It employs over 6,300 individuals, including 1,707 physicians in 2 million square feet of space spread over 16 interconnected buildings. Features of the Hospital include the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania, one of only 39 National Cancer Institute (NCI) designated comprehensive cancer centers in the nation; the General Clinical Research Center (GCRC), which conducts clinical trials; and PennSTAR, a critical-care flight program with three helicopters that transfer critically injured patients in the Philadelphia region. During FY2010, there were 39,746 adult admissions; 1,352.107 outpatient visits, 59,406 emergency room visits, and 4,181 births. HUP has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the top 10 “Honor Roll” hospitals, one of only 18 hospitals chosen from approximately 5,400 surveyed.

Pennsylvania Hospital, the nation’s first hospital, was founded in 1751 by Benjamin Franklin and Dr. Thomas Bond. The campus includes specialty treatment centers, such as the Joan Karnell Cancer Center and the PENN Neurological Institute. Pennsylvania Hospital has 519 licensed patient beds and 720 physicians in almost 1 million square feetof space spread over 15 buildings. During FY2010, there were 23,847 adult admissions; 78,784 outpatient visits; 31,642 emergency room visits; and 4,776 births..

Penn Presbyterian Medical Center houses a number of specialties including Penn Cardiac Care, Penn Orthopaedics, and the Scheie Eye Institute. Presbyterian Hospital has 331 patient beds and 781 physicians occupying over 618,000 square feet in 10 interconnected buildings. During FY2010, there were 17,069 adult admissions; 107,928 outpatient visits; and 37,570 emergency room visits.

The Ruth and Raymond Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine is a state-of-the-art, 500,000-square-foot outpatient facility located adjacent to HUP. It is designed to create an ideal environment for patient-focused care. The Perelman Center houses 12 clinical specialties, including cardiovascular medicine, an outpatient surgical pavilion, and the Abramson Cancer Center. A national leader in cancer research, patient care, and education, the Abramson Cancer Center has been designated as a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute for more than 30 years, and is today one of 40 such Centers in the United States.

The Roberts Proton Therapy Center, the largest facility of its kind in the world, uses proton beam radiation to precisely target tumors, with less radiation reaching the surrounding healthy tissues than in conventional radiation treatments. Along with saving lives, a key mission of Penn’s proton therapy center is to improve the treatment of cancer through research, by conducting innovative trials to discover the best uses of proton therapy and find new ways to reduce the side effects associated with radiation therapy. Unlike free-standing proton therapy facilities, Penn’s is fully integrated within the Abramson Cancer Center, offering each patient the most appropriate, effective, and comprehensive treatment plan.

The Clinical Practices of the University of Pennsylvania (CPUP) are the ambulatory care component of the University of Pennsylvania Health System. Established in 1997, CPUP has more than 1500 physicians, nurses and nurse practitioners providing care at 150 practice locations across the Philadelphia region.

Penn’s provider network of primary and specialty care physicians, Clinical Care Associates (CCA) and Clinical Health Care Associates of New Jersey (CCA/CHCA), includes practices with more than 50 locations throughout Philadelphia and the surrounding areas, providing primary care and specialty care services.

The Penn Medicine at Rittenhouse location provides comprehensive post-acute medical care. The main building includes a 38-bed long-term post-acute care hospital operated by Good Shepherd Penn Partners, a joint venture between UPHS and the Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network; an inpatient rehabilitation facility; an inpatient hospice unit; and the Penn Medicine Clinical Simulation Center. The Tuttleman Center building includes an outpatient surgery center and an outpatient radiology suite operated by Pennsylvania Hospital, as well as a primary care practice and the Penn Pain Medicine Center.

Penn Home Care & Hospice Services serves approximately 19,000 patients annually. It is composed of Penn Hospice at Rittenhouse; Penn Care at Home, a Medicare-certified home health agency; Penn Home Infusion Therapy, providing home infusion therapy, pharmaceuticals, and skilled nursing care; and Penn Wissahickon Hospice, a certified hospice and palliative home-health agency.

Three satellite facilities provide both primary and multispecialty care to patients in the Philadelphia region. At Penn Medicine at Bucks County specialties include primary care, heart and lung care, and radiology. Penn Medicine at Cherry Hill offers family medicine and orthopaedics, among many other specialties, and Penn Medicine at Radnor provides care in more than 40 specialties.

Penn Cardiology at Cherry Hill provides advanced outpatient cardiology care.

Penn Center for Rehabilitation and Care, a 124-bed skilled nursing facility located at 36th and Chestnut Streets in West Philadelphia, offers long- and short-term care.