Dual Degrees & Areas of Concentration

Dual Degrees

The flexibility of the curriculum allows students at the Perelman School of Medicine to earn combined degrees as part of their medical education. Most of our MD/Master's programs are designed to be completed in 5 years with the bulk of the master’s courses work being done in the year between MS3 and MS4 (after Core 2 and 6-8 months of Core 3). Program requirements and transfer credits vary by program.

Ad Hoc Programs:
PSOM medical students can pursue other MD/Master's combination at Penn (i.e., MD/MSCE (Clinical Epidemiology), MD/MSME (Medical Ethics), MD/MSE (Engineering), MD/MSEd (Higher Education), or MD/JD), please contact the Combined Degree Office for more information.

Areas of Concentration

In addition to formal dual degrees, students may earn notation on their transcript in specialized concentrations with little additional cost. All can be earned within the four-year medical school program. Completion is reflected on the medical school transcript and Medical Student Performance Evaluation (MSPE) letter. All programs involve attendance at seminars/courses, an internship or capstone experience and scholarly activity/research.

Academic Surgery

This concentration option familiarizes medical students with basic surgical concepts, techniques and terminologies to augment learning in the operating room.

Clinical Informatics

This area of concentration program is designed to train students to think like clinician-informaticians, capable of leveraging technology and data analytics to improve the way that we deliver healthcare.

Clinical Neuroscience

The goal of this program is to train specialists who will participate at the forefront of clinical and academic practice and disease-oriented research. The program combines curricular enrichment in the neurosciences, mentoring, special extracurricular activities and research opportunities. For more information, visit www.med.upenn.edu/cnst

Community Health - Bridging the Gaps

This program links the training of health and social service professionals with the provision of health-related services to underserved communities. Visit Bridging the Gaps for more information.

Global Health

This program provides students with an in-depth exploration of global health issues through international experiences, coursework and research. Visit Global Heath Programs for more information.

Healthcare Management, Entrepreneurship and Technology (H-MET)

This area of concentration provides health care professionals with a broader perspective to navigate an evolving health care system, to incorporate quality and patient safety measures at the population level, and to implement the meaningful use of health care technologies. Visit PennHealthX for more information.

Leadership in Healthcare Improvement and Safety

This concentration engages and nurtures the next generation of physician leaders in health system improvement by immersing them in the field of healthcare quality and safety, through education, mentoring, and experiential project work.

Measey Primary Care Pathway

The Measey Primary Care Pathway Program is designed to prepare Perelman School of Medicine students for careers in: family medicine, general internal medicine, outpatient pediatrics, and geriatrics. This program offers opportunity for mentoring, clinical experience, research & scholarship, courses & workshops, and community engagement.

Medical Education

This opportunity prepares students to become leaders in medical education through training in the science of medical education, theoretical frameworks and principles; by developing skills in scholarship via medical education research or curriculum development; and by developing effective teaching skills with the help of mentoring faculty.

Medical Humanities

This area of concentration enables students to describe historical and ongoing significance of the medical humanities in human health and medical training. Students have opportunity to develop, coordinate, and/or teach medical humanities curriculum in electives and in the pre-existing PSOM curriculum.

Palliative Care

This area of concentration is an opportunity for coaching on communication skills and attain advanced knowledge about topics such as pain and symptom management, prognostication, and specialist palliative and hospice care.

Public Health in Medicine

This concentration recognizes students who have made an effort to expand their public health knowledge during medical school by completing required public-health-related scholarly activities.

Spirituality and Health

This program focuses on the importance of incorporating spiritual care into the healthcare system and integrating patients' spiritual issues and resources into treatment.