Other name | Penn Med |
---|---|
Type | Medical school |
Established | 1765 |
Parent institution | University of Pennsylvania |
Affiliation | University of Pennsylvania Health System [1] |
Dean | Jonathan A. Epstein (interim) |
Academic staff | 2,100 (full-time) [1] 1,200 (residents and fellows) [1] |
Administrative staff | 3,334 [1] |
Students | 775 M.D. students 594 Ph.D. students 186 M.D.-Ph.D. students 329 masters students 704 post-doctoral fellows [1] |
Location | , , U.S. 39°56′52″N75°11′33″W / 39.94778°N 75.19250°W |
Campus | Urban |
Website | med |
The Perelman School of Medicine (commonly known as Penn Med) is the medical school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private, Ivy League research university located in Philadelphia. Founded in 1765, [1] the Perelman School of Medicine is the oldest medical school in the United States. Today, the Perelman School of Medicine is a major center of biomedical research and education with over 2,900 faculty members and nearly $1 billion in annual sponsored program awards. [2] [3]
The founding of a school of medicine was proposed by John Morgan, a graduate of the College of Philadelphia and the University of Edinburgh Medical School. [4] After training in Edinburgh and other European cities, Morgan returned to Philadelphia in 1765. With fellow University of Edinburgh Medical School graduate William Shippen Jr., Morgan persuaded the college's trustees to found the first medical school in the original Thirteen Colonies.
Shortly before the medical school's creation, Morgan delivered an address titled "Upon the Institution of Medical Schools in America," addressed to the trustees and the citizens of Philadelphia, in which he expressed his desire for the new medical school to become a model institution, saying, [5]
"Perhaps this medical institution, the first of its kind in America, though small in its beginning, may receive a constant increase of strength, and annually exert new vigor. It may collect a number of young persons of more ordinary abilities, and so improve their knowledge as to spread its reputation to different parts. By sending these abroad duly qualified, or by exciting an emulation amongst men of parts and literature, it may give birth to other useful institutions of a similar nature, or occasional rise, by its example to numerous societies of different kinds, calculated to spread the light of knowledge through the whole American continent, wherever inhabited". [6]
That autumn, students enrolled for "anatomical lectures" and a course on "the theory and practice of physick." Modeling the school after the University of Edinburgh Medical School, medical lectures were supplemented with bedside teaching at the Pennsylvania Hospital. [7]
The School of Medicine's early faculty included nationally prominent physicians, surgeons, and scientists such as Benjamin Rush, Philip Syng Physick, William Shippen Jr., [8] and Robert Hare.
In addition to being a Penn professor of chemistry, medical theory, and clinical practice, Dr. Benjamin Rush served as a key figure in the American Revolution as a Founding Father, signatory to the United States Declaration of Independence, and member of the Continental Congress. [9]
In the mid-19th century, notable faculty members included William Pepper, Joseph Leidy, and Nathaniel Chapman (founding president of the American Medical Association). [10] William Osler and Howard Atwood Kelly, two of the "founding four" physicians of Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore were drawn from Penn's medical faculty.
In 1910, the landmark Flexner Report on medical education reviewed Penn as one of the relatively few medical schools of the era with high standards in admission criteria, medical instruction, and research facilities. [11]
In 2011, the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine was renamed to the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in recognition of a $225 million gift by Raymond and Ruth Perelman. [12] Raymond and his son, Ronald Perelman, are both alumni of Penn's Wharton School. [13] It was the single largest gift made in the university's history, and it remains the largest donation ever made for naming rights to a medical school. [14] [15]
Between 1765 and 1801, medical school lectures were held in Surgeon's Hall on 5th Street in Center City Philadelphia. In 1801, medical instruction moved with the rest of the university to 9th Street. [16] In the 1870s, the university moved across the Schuylkill River to a location in West Philadelphia. As part of this move, the medical faculty persuaded the university trustees to construct a teaching hospital adjacent to the new academic facilities. [17] As a result, Penn's medical school and flagship teaching hospital form part of the university's main campus and are located in close proximity to the university's other schools and departments. Although they are independent institutions, the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the Wistar Institute are also located on or adjacent to Penn's campus.
The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Pennsylvania Hospital, and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia serve as the medical school's main teaching hospitals. Additional teaching takes place at Chester County Hospital, Lancaster General Hospital, and the Philadelphia VA Medical Center. [18] [19] [20]
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the School of Medicine was one of the earliest to encourage the development of the emerging medical specialties: neurosurgery, ophthalmology, dermatology, and radiology. Between 1910 and 1939, the chairman of the Department of Pharmacology, Alfred Newton Richards, played a significant role in developing the university as an authority of medical science, [21] [22] helping the U.S. to catch up with European medicine and begin to make significant advances in biomedical science.
In the 1950s and early 1960s, Jonathan Rhoads of the Department of Surgery, which he would later go on to head for many years, mentored Stanley Dudrick who pioneered the successful use of total parenteral nutrition (TPN) for patients unable to tolerate nutrition through their GI tract. [23]
In the 1980s and 1990s, C. William Schwab, a trauma surgeon, led numerous advances in the concept of damage control surgery for severely injured trauma patients. [24]
In the 1990s and 2000s, Paul Offit, a professor of pediatrics at the School of Medicine and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, lead the scientific advances behind the modern RotaTeq vaccine for infectious childhood diarrhea. [25]
In 2006, Dr. Kaplan and Shore of the Department of Orthopedics discovered the causative mutation in fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva, an extremely rare disease of bone. [26] [27]
Benchmark changes in the understanding of medical science and the practice of medicine have necessitated that the school change its methods of teaching, as well as its curriculum. Large changes were made in 1968, 1970, 1981, 1987, and 1997. The last significant change in 2022 brought about the institution of the IMPaCT curriculum, "an integrated, multidisciplinary curriculum which emphasizes small group instruction, self-directed learning and flexibility." Three themes, Science of Medicine, Technology and Practice of Medicine, and Professionalism and Humanism, were developed by focus groups consisting of department chairpersons, course directors, and students. [28]
Biomedical Graduate Studies, contained within the Perelman School of Medicine, was established in 1985 and serves as the academic home within the University of Pennsylvania for roughly 700 students pursuing a PhD in the basic biomedical sciences. BGS consists of more than 600 faculty members across seven Penn schools and several associated institutes including Wistar Institute, Fox Chase Cancer Center, and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. [29] There are seven graduate programs, labeled by the school as "graduate groups," that lead to a PhD in basic biomedical sciences. [30]
All biomedical graduate studies students receive a stipend in addition to a full fellowship and tend to receive the degree within a median time frame of 5.4 years. [31] There is also the option for students to pursue an additional certificate in medicine, public health, and environmental health sciences. [32] Each graduate group has its own admission policy and training mission, and hence curriculum greatly varies. [29]
The Perelman School of Medicine and the University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS) comprise "Penn Medicine". Penn Medicine is an organizational structure designed to integrate Penn's clinical, educational, and research functions. Penn Medicine is governed by a board of trustees which in turn reports to the trustees of the university. Kevin B. Mahoney serves as CEO of UPHS [33] [34] while J. Larry Jameson serves as Dean of Medicine and Executive Vice President of the health system. [35] [36] [37]
The School of Medicine has departments in the following basic science subjects: Biochemistry and Biophysics, Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Cancer Biology, Cell and Developmental Biology, Genetics, Medical Ethics and Health Policy, Microbiology, Neuroscience, Pharmacology, and Physiology. The school also has departments in the following clinical practices: Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Dermatology, Emergency Medicine, Family Practice and Community Medicine, Medicine, Neurology, Neurosurgery, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ophthalmology (See Scheie Eye Institute), Orthopaedic Surgery, Otorhinolaryngology, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Pediatrics (See Children's Hospital of Philadelphia), Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Psychiatry, Radiation Oncology, Radiology, and Surgery. [38]
The Perelman School of Medicine, in conjunction with the University of Pennsylvania Health System, has contained within it many centers and institutes dealing with clinical medicine, clinical research, basic science research, and translational research. [39]
Among the noteworthy alumni are four graduates and/or faculty members who were awarded the Nobel Prize, two alumni who were awarded the Medal of Honor, and hundreds of alumni who contributed to the health and well-being of Earth.
The University of Pennsylvania is a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It is one of nine colonial colleges and was chartered prior to the U.S. Declaration of Independence when Benjamin Franklin, the university's founder and first president, advocated for an educational institution that trained leaders in academia, commerce, and public service. Penn identifies as the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, though this representation is challenged by other universities since Franklin first convened the board of trustees in 1749, arguably making it the fifth-oldest.
The Geisel School of Medicine is the medical school of Dartmouth College located in Hanover, New Hampshire. The fourth oldest medical school in the United States, it was founded in 1797 by New England physician Nathan Smith. It is one of the seven Ivy League medical schools.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS) is a major multi-hospital health system headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. UPHS and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania together comprise Penn Medicine, a clinical and research entity of the University of Pennsylvania. UPHS hospitals include the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Pennsylvania Hospital, Chester County Hospital, Lancaster General Hospital, and Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center.
Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, sometimes called Presby, is a hospital located in the University City section of West Philadelphia. It was founded by Reverend Ephraim D. Saunders in 1871 and formally joined the University of Pennsylvania Health System in 1995. Penn Presbyterian is spread out on a campus bounded by Market Street, Powelton Avenue, 38th Street, and Sloan Street.
William Shippen Sr. was an American physician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was also a civic and educational leader who represented Pennsylvania in the Continental Congress.
The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine is a medical school of the University of Pittsburgh, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The School of Medicine, also known as Pitt Med, encompasses both a medical program, offering the doctor of medicine, and graduate programs, offering doctor of philosophy and master's degrees in several areas of biomedical science, clinical research, medical education, and medical informatics.
The UCD School of Medicine at University College Dublin, Ireland, was founded in 1854. At undergraduate level, the school offers programmes in Medicine MB BCh BAO, BSc Biomedical Health and Life Sciences, and the BSc Radiography. At graduate level, the school UCD offers over 40 programmes for health care professionals.
Drexel University College of Medicine is the medical school of Drexel University, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The medical school represents the consolidation of two medical schools: Hahnemann Medical College, originally founded as the nation's first college of homeopathy, and the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania, the first U.S. medical school for women, which became the Medical College of Pennsylvania when it admitted men in 1970; these institutions merged in 1993, became affiliated with Drexel University College of Medicine in 1998, and were fully absorbed into the university in 2002. With one of the nation's largest enrollments for a private medical school, Drexel University College of Medicine is the second most applied-to medical school in the United States. It is ranked no. 83 in research by U.S. News & World Report.
The Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University (LKSOM), located on the Health Science Campus of Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is one of seven schools of medicine in Pennsylvania that confers the Doctor of Medicine degree. It also confers Ph.D and M.S. degrees in biomedical science, and offers a Narrative Medicine program.
The University of Edinburgh Medical School is the medical school of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and the United Kingdom and part of the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine. It was established in 1726, during the Scottish Enlightenment, making it the oldest medical school in the United Kingdom and the oldest medical school in the English-speaking world.
Penn Medicine Rittenhouse is a rehabilitation and long-term acute-care facility in the Southwest Center City neighborhood of Philadelphia founded in 2007. The current facility is owned by the University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS) and operated by Good Shepherd Penn Partners.
Medical centers in the United States are conglomerations of health care facilities including hospitals and research facilities that also either include or are closely affiliated with a medical school.
Mitchell J. Blutt is an American physician-businessman. He is one of the first physicians to play a prominent role on Wall Street by drawing on his medical training to identify investment potential in healthcare companies. He is the founder and CEO of the New York-based healthcare investment firm, Consonance Capital, and a former Executive Partner of J.P. Morgan Partners. He is also a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Department of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and the Graduate School of Medical Sciences of Cornell University.
Isaac "Jack" Starr, known as the father of ballistocardiography, was an American physician, heart disease specialist, and clinical epidemiologist notable for developing the first practical ballistocardiograph. His early academic positions included being an assistant professor in pharmacology and later the first Hartzell Professor of Research Therapeutics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania as well as dean of the school from 1945 to 1948.
Carl H. June is an American immunologist and oncologist. He is currently the Richard W. Vague Professor in Immunotherapy in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania. He is most well known for his research on T cell therapies for the treatment of several forms of cancers. In 2020 he was elected to the American Philosophical Society.
Brian L. Strom is the inaugural Chancellor of Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences and the Executive Vice President for Health Affairs at Rutgers University. Strom was the Executive Vice Dean for Institutional Affairs, Founding Chair of the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Founding Director of the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and Founding Director of the Graduate Program in Epidemiology and Biostatistics, at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania. In addition to writing more than 650 papers and 15 books, he has been principal investigator for more than 275 grants. He was honored as one of the Best Doctors in America for each of his last eight years at Penn.
The Pennsylvania State College of Medicine (PSCOM) is the medical school of Pennsylvania State University, a public university system in Pennsylvania. It is located in Hershey near the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and Penn State Health Children's Hospital, the medical school's principal affiliate. The medical school includes 26 basic science and clinical departments and a range of clinical programs conducted at its hospital affiliates and numerous ambulatory care sites in the region.
Katrina Alison Armstrong is an American internist, currently serving as the interim president of Columbia University since August 2024. She concurrently serves as CEO of Irving Medical Center and as dean of the Faculties of Health Sciences at the university.
Daniel P. Kelly is Director of the Penn[1][2] and CHOP[3][4] Cardiovascular Institutes (CVI) and the Willard and Rhoda Ware Professor of Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and the Rachel Ash Presidential Professor at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). He is a cardiologist and physician-scientist recognized for his contributions to the transcriptional control of mitochondrial function and the metabolic origins of heart disease.
David A. Asch is an American physician-scientist. He is the Senior Vice President of the University of Pennsylvania where he is the Professor of Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine and Professor of Operations, Information, and Decisions and Professor of Health Care Management at the Wharton School.