About the College
Karen Kim, Dean, College of Medicine
Graduate Programs at the Penn State College of Medicine permit students to choose their dissertation adviser and committee members from the approximately 150 faculty members of the Program who represent more than 20 basic science and clinical departments. Research interests of Program faculty members are wide-ranging in both scientific disciplines and specific research interests. Graduate students benefit from the opportunity to tailor both their coursework and research to align closely with their particular interests. The objective of Graduate Programs at The Penn State College of medicine is to train individuals for advanced professional careers in the Biomedical Sciences, Neuroscience, Anatomy, Public Health Sciences and related fields.
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE COLLEGE
Mission and Goals
At Penn State College of Medicine we are committed to educating graduate students in basic medical sciences and others in public health-related professions. We seek to enroll students of exceptional quality, and provide them with a rigorous education and research environment allowing them to develop the skills necessary to be future leaders in their field.
Departments and Schools
The College of Medicine has seven basic science departments that include Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Comparative Medicine, Microbiology and Immunology, Neural and Behavioral Sciences, Pharmacology, and Public Health Sciences. Additionally, a number of other departments house basic scientists and physician-scientists that train graduate students. These include: Anesthesiology, Dermatology, Medicine, Neurology, Neurosurgery, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ophthalmology, Orthopaedics, Pathology, Pediatrics, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Psychiatry and Surgery.
Graduate Programs
At the College of Medicine, there are no department-based graduate programs, with the exception of Public Health Sciences. The following represent the integrative doctoral programs at the College of Medicine:
The doctoral degree in Anatomy provides coursework to help students achieve advanced understanding of specific knowledge related to human anatomic sciences, including medical gross anatomy, human embryology and human microscopic anatomy.
The doctoral degree program in Biomedical Sciences (BMS), with its options in Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Translational Therapeutics, Cellular and Integrative Physiology, and Virology and Immunology, is a nationally and internationally recognized interdisciplinary graduate program that provides students curricular and research training with a unique focus on human health and disease. Students receive rigorous training that provides the skills necessary to be leaders in biomedical research and other endeavors including business, education, law, journalism, and public policy.
The doctoral degree program in Biostatistics focuses on preparing students to develop new means of uncovering key scientific discoveries using cutting edge analytical and bioinformatics. Technological advances in areas such as imaging, high throughput omics, and electronic medical records constantly add demand for graduate training in Biostatistics.
The doctoral degree program in Neuroscience brings together scientists from different basic and clinical disciplines to focus on the nervous system. Some researchers seek to clarify the development or function of the brain at the cellular, molecular, or genetic levels. Others seek to understand how the nervous system processes information, controls autonomic functions, regulates states of consciousness, or determines behavior. Still others search for the means to diagnose, prevent, and successfully treat malignant brain tumors, congenital and acquired brain diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, or dysfunctions caused by pathologic states in brain structure.
Public Health Sciences offers the following degrees: Master of Public Health (MPH), Doctor of Public health (DrPH), Master’s degree in Public Health Sciences and Homeland Security – Public Health Preparedness. As a national leader in research, education and outreach, the Department of Public Health Sciences aims to advance theory and practice that prepares future public health professionals, improves population health, and reduces health disparities across communities in Pennsylvania, the nation, and internationally.
Resources
Career Services
Penn State College of Medicine Career Services assists graduate students in preparing for and pursuing meaningful and rewarding careers through a comprehensive array of programs and services. The College has a full-time career counselor dedicated to assisting graduate students.
Graduate Student Association
The Graduate Student Association (GSA) is a group of students made up of elected and appointed students who help run student life at Penn State College of Medicine. The GSA helps to facilitate communication between the student body and program administration, as well as coordinate events such as the annual Research Forum to provide educational opportunities for all members of the Penn State College of Medicine community. Members of the GSA also try to help new students adjust to graduate school life through social and academic services.
Office of Diversity and Inclusion
Penn State Health and Penn State College of Medicine address diversity and inclusion from a measurable, strategic perspective that includes, as a foundation, equal employment regulatory compliance. Our commitment is communicated in the University's diversity statement, which provides the foundation for our initiatives, as well as in our campus' mission and vision statements on diversity, equity and inclusion. Penn State Health and Penn State College of Medicine are change agents and leaders in Hershey and the surrounding communities, promoting diversity and inclusion as a way to make the educational, work and local communities better and our businesses more successful.
Student Mental Health and Counseling
The Office of Student Mental Health and Counseling (OSMHC) is designed to meet the needs of Penn State College of Medicine students with compassion, honesty, and confidentiality. All issues are taken seriously – no problem is “too small” to talk about. This includes crisis and support services.
Student Housing
University Manor is a housing complex situation on the campus of the Penn State College of Medicine and which graduate students can live.
Student Health
Healthcare is available to students and their immediate families through Student Health Services. Student Health is a division of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Penn State College of Medicine.
Core Facilities and Research Resources
Penn State College of Medicine has shared-service core research facilities that provide specialized instrumentation and analytical services for the conduct of basic, clinical, and translational research. These include, but are not limited to, flow cytometry, genomic analysis, imaging, informatics and data analysis, mass spectrometry and proteomics, pathology and specimen processing, drug discovery, supply center, transgenics and animal services.
Contact
Daniela Zarnescu, Ph.D.
Associate Dean for Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Training
Professor of Cellular and Molecular Physiology
Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology
717-531-8569
dcz102@psu.edu