Training Setting

University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine (PSOM)

The University of Pennsylvania (Penn) has a strong, well-established history of research and practice with a diverse, multidisciplinary and collaborative faculty and ample resources that promotes an environment rich for developing young investigators and practitioners. Penn is home to a diverse body of more than 10,000 full-time students enrolled in its four undergraduate schools and nearly 11,000 students enrolled in its 12 graduate and professional schools, each a national leader in its field. Penn’s schools are located on a compact campus, the geographical unity of which supports and fosters its multidisciplinary approach to education, scholarship, and research. Research and research training are substantial and esteemed enterprises; our research community includes more than 4,000 faculty and a large support staff bolstered by an annual University budget of $6 billion. Penn’s 165 research centers and institutes bring together researchers from multiple departments, schools, and disciplines.

The PSOM prides itself on the vision of Benjamin Franklin, founder of the University, that education should be oriented toward combining theory and practice for the betterment of humanity. Penn can rightfully be called the “birthplace of American medicine,” as it includes the nation’s first hospital (Pennsylvania Hospital in 1751), first medical school (1765), first university hospital (Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania [HUP] in 1874), and first integrated academic health system (1993).

The Department of Psychiatry:  

The Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, chaired by Maria Oquendo, MD, is one of the most successful mental health research entities in the country. The department faculty conducts research across a broad array of disciplines, from basic genetic and animal model research through large-scale implementation and policy research. Behavioral medicine and addictions research at Penn leads the field in integrating advances in basic science into behavioral medicine research and practice, and promote the successful diffusion of new prevention and treatment approaches from the laboratory, to the clinic and community. Clinical research in the Department is devoted to understanding mental illnesses with the aim of decreasing their toll on patients, their families, and society.

The Department takes seriously its role as a spokesperson for the profession and in publicizing the importance of behavioral health for the nation’s and world’s well-being. The Chair and Department faculty have played a national role in psychiatric and behavioral health forums (e.g., focusing on depression, schizophrenia, alcohol and drug addictions, tobacco use, obesity eating disorders, national security and bio terrorism, and patient advocacy, among others). As important, the Department maintains active, leading programs in each of these areas. The vision of the Department includes growing research on the etiology of psychiatric illness and the increasing number of treatments available to patients is at last beginning to lift the stigma of mental illness and offering hope to those who suffer from it. These developments are increasing the likelihood of expanded funding for clinical care, research, and philanthropy. In addition, there is a growing national grassroots movement to support parity for mental health care coverage which, if successful, will bring about much-needed improved reimbursement for mental health care.