Areas of Concentration
During their flexible time in the curriculum, students may pursue one or more areas of concentration.
The academic surgery program familiarizes medical students with basic surgical concepts, techniques and terminologies to augment learning in the operating room.
Requirements
- Mandatory 8-week pre-clerkship lessons in 2nd year
- 6 hour pre-sub-internship session on suturing and laparoscopy skills in 3rd year
- 2 week Boot Camp at the Simulation Center in 4th year
- Accrual of points by attending symposiums, participating in Agnew Scholars Program, or presentation of research at qualifying local/regional/national scientific meetings
- 1 page write-up after attending lectures/grand rounds/symposium
- Scholarly Pursuit with Department of Surgery mentor
- Teach surgical curriculum to MS-2 and MS-3 students during 4th year
Contact Leader
The Bridging the Gaps (BTG) program links the provision of health-related service for under-resourced populations with the interprofessional training of health and social service professionals.
Requirements
Complete either/or:
- Community Health Rotation (one month): Complete a rotation at one of the BTG Community Health sites
- Complete a Scholarly Pursuit (three months) at one of the BTG Community Health sites
Contact Leaders
To learn more, visit Bridging the Gaps.
The clinical informatics 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 health care.
Requirements
Didactic Components
- Completion of the University of Pennsylvania’s Introduction to Biomedical and Health Informatics (BMIN 501) course
- Completion of one of the following elective options:
- Other semester-long course on topic relevant to clinical informatics offered through the University
- Clinical Informatics Frontiers course
- Epic training course
- Online programming/data science course
- Completion of one of the following seminar options:
- Attendance at ≥5 seminars on topics relevant to clinical informatics across the University
- Attendance at an approved academic conference in clinical informatics
- Completion of one of the following teaching options:
- Present clinical informatics relevant project at an academic conference
- Act as an office hours “content expert” for the intersession Intro to Epic course for incoming clerkship students
Experiential Components
- CHOP Introduction to Clinical Informatics rotation, or
- Yearlong Clinical Informatics Fellowship offered through the Office of the CMIO, or
- An otherwise appropriate short-term internship to be approved by PSOM
Mentorship Components
- Students will be paired with a mentor based on their interests through the faculty advisory board
- Students will also have the opportunity to meet with executive leaders within Penn Medicine’s health IT landscape
Contact Leader
This program trains clinical neuroscience specialists who will eventually participate at the forefront of clinical and academic practice and research. The program combines curricular enrichment in the neurosciences, mentoring, special extracurricular activities and research opportunities within the four-year medical school structure.
Requirements
- Attend 20 required CNST biweekly seminars during MS-1 – MS-4
- Complete a qualifying summer research project in a clinical neuroscience area between MS-1 and MS-2
- Present research findings at a qualifying local, regional or national scientific meeting
- Complete two clinical neurosciences electives
- Complete a clinical neurosciences-related Scholarly Pursuit project during MS-3 – MS-4
Contact Leader
To learn more, visit Penn CNST.
The IMPaCT program provides an understanding of the challenges faced by low-SES patients in maintaining health and obtaining health care. IMPaCT helps students develop cross-cultural communication and negotiation skills, acquire knowledge of health care resources and services available to low-SES patients, and learn to advocate in the health care setting for patients to obtain care and services.
Requirements
- Complete the Bridging the Gaps Community Health Internship Program (BTG CHIP).
- Complete the Bridging the Gaps Seminar Series
- Complete the IMPaCT Teaching Service Elective
- Complete a Scholarly Pursuit related to the social determinants of health and reducing health disparities
Contact Leaders
The Global Health Certificate program is designed to benefit students who are interested in pursuing careers in this area by allowing them to demonstrate active engagement and longstanding commitment to global health.
This program provides students with an in-depth exploration of global health issues through international experiences, coursework and research.
Requirements
- Students must complete two field experiences lasting a minimum of 6 weeks (exception only for clinical rotations where partner institution offers 4 weeks), usually between years MS-1 – MS-2 (for research) and during MS-3 – MS-4 (for research or clinical rotations). (See Community Health - Bridging the Gaps concentration for an alternative). Year-out opportunities also available.
- Complete PUBH519 Foundations in Global Health (scroll under PUBH electives) offered by the Master of Public Health program in the Perelman School of Medicine, 1 credit unit, fall semester.
- Complete a Scholarly Pursuit that has global health relevance.
Contact Leader
To learn more, visit Penn Center for Global Health.
The H-MET program helps enable future health professionals to impact an evolving health care system by pursuing interdisciplinary education in health care innovation. H-MET facilitates skill development and project experience. H-MET promotes mentorship and joint ventures among students, faculty, alumni and the health care industry.
Requirements
- Attend at a minimum of 12 H-MET seminars between the first year and mid-December of the 4th year of medical school
- Complete 2 courses: one from the Health Care Management Department at Wharton or other departments within the University of Pennsylvania; one content-appropriate Frontiers in Medical Sciences course
- Complete two of the following:
- A Scholarly Pursuit project in an H-MET topic
- A research project in an H-MET topic within the University of Pennsylvania and its hospital system during a Year Out
- An approved project-based course within the University of Pennsylvania
- An internship in an H-MET-related industry
- An administrative experience in which the student is paired with a faculty member or physician who carries out an H-MET-related role in the University or hospital system and the student is required to assist him or her in a project.
Contact Leaders
To learn more, visit Penn HealthX.
NOTE: Health Care Management, Entrepreneurship & Technology is administered by the Perelman School of Medicine in conjunction with the medical-student-run Penn HealthX group. Please contact pennhealthx@gmail.com with any questions.
The Leadership in Healthcare Improvement and Patient Safety area of concentration immerses medical students in the field of healthcare quality improvement and patient safety through education, practical experiences, and interactions with physicians and other health care team members engaged in improving the delivery of healthcare.
Requirements
Curriculum:
- Complete Institute for Healthcare Improvement Basic Certificate in Quality and Safety
- Participate in a 2-day interdisciplinary team-based workshop focused on learning and applying quality improvement tools to a real hospital problem. Example of 2-day workshop agenda.
- Enroll in one of the following courses:
- HQS 6010: Healthcare Quality: Standards, Landscape, and Measurement
- HQS 6120: Principles and Practice of Healthcare Quality Improvement
- HQS 6500: Systems Thinking in Patient Safety
- HQS 6080: Using Quality Improvement to Achieve Health Equity
Experiences:
- Each medical student must join a Department’s Quality/Safety Committee or a Hospital (HUP, PPMC or CHOP) Quality/Safety team.
- Optional:
- Completion of a Scholarly project related to healthcare quality and safety.
- Participate in Penn Center for Healthcare Improvement & Patient Safety’s offerings, such as Medical Student Summer Internship.
Mentorship:
- Provided by the Area of Concentration Director (required to meet 2 times/year)
- Additional mentorship will be provided by a faculty advisor in the clinical or operational area of interest of the student.
Contact Leader
Neha.Patel@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Website: https://chips.med.upenn.edu/md-area-of-concentration/
The Measey Primary Care Pathway is designed to train the next generation of primary care physicians with the skills they need to engage in and transform high quality patient-centered care. This comprehensive program includes enhanced primary care clinical experiences, mentoring from exceptional role models, research and scholarship opportunities, team learning, courses and workshops, and community engagement experiences. Students can join the pathway as first-, second-, or third-year students.
To learn more, visit the Penn Measey Primary Care Pathway Program.
This program prepares upper-level 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
- By developing effective teaching skills
- Through mentoring by faculty with experience in medical education leadership or scholarship
Requirements
Didactic Components
- Frontiers in Medical Education (2 weeks), which includes didactics and interactive skill-building exercises
- Perelman School of Medicine Medical Education Journal Club (participating in 60% of sessions), including one presentation during the certificate program
- Monthly medical education certificate seminar meetings
Practical Components
- Teaching Assistant (i.e., Anatomy/MDTI/ICM/Student Reports) with structured peer/faculty feedback on teaching using behavioral checklists/reflection exercises
- Observing master teachers using behavioral checklists/reflection exercises
- Medical education leadership: opportunities include course representatives and curriculum committees
Mentoring Components
- Mentoring by faculty medical educator with monthly meetings
Scholarship Components
- Curriculum development opportunities or medical education research project
- Final capstone presentation to group
Contact Leader
The medical humanities are an interdisciplinary field that applies perspectives and methods from the humanities (fine arts, music, literature, history, ethics, social sciences, etc.) to medical practice and education. The medical humanities area of concentration allows students to explore these intersections through their own lens — developing new connections and creating scholarly inquiries to shape the field in the future. Students are eligible to start as early as the beginning of Core 1 (pre-clerkship) and as late as the end of Core 2 (post-clerkship). Students will participate in four AOC cohort meetings per academic year while in Core 1 and Core 3.
Requirements
Prior to graduation, Med Hum AOC students must fulfill all of the following requirements.
Mentorship
Students will participate in one-to-one mentorship with a resident, fellow, or faculty member engaged in the medical humanities. Students will be paired according to their interests via the Penn Health Medical Humanities Database, which currently has over 50 Penn residents, fellows, and faculty listed.
Practical/Experiential
Students will complete at least two practical experiences, including but not limited to:
- Coordinating a medical humanities elective
- TA'ing a medical humanities elective
- Leading a humanities-related student organization (apenndx, Last Writers, Medical Humanities Council, among others), or establishing a new one
- Engaging in scholarly research related to the medical humanities (separate from a Scholarly Pursuit, more below)
Didactics
Students must complete at least 3 of the following:
- Attend at least two Medical Humanities AOC workshops
- Attend a medical humanities conference (with or without poster or abstract)
- Complete a medical humanities elective
- Complete a Med Hum-related Frontiers course, e.g. Framing Bias
- Attend at least four Medical Humanities lectures and complete the related 250-word reflection
Scholarship
Under the guidance of an approved mentor, students will propose and then submit to the Med Hum AOC faculty advisor a project that fulfills any one of the following:
- Scholarly Pursuit related to the medical humanities
- Other scholarly project related to the medical humanities (must provide proof of publication or otherwise submit a manuscript to the faculty advisor)
- Capstone project related to the medical humanities (e.g., theater piece, historical essay, art portfolio, etc.)
Concentration Director
As emphasis on patient-centered care in medical education has grown, palliative care is increasingly recognized as an important part of medical school curricula. The palliative care area of concentration is an opportunity for students to solidify basic concepts and begin to work toward more advanced palliative care skills and knowledge. Students must apply for this area of concentration by the end of their clerkship year. See here more information on the CARE-7 Palliative Care curriculum.
Requirements
Didactic Experiences
- Attend or view a minimum of 6 sessions of the Palliative Care Conference Series
- Attend a minimum of 4 Palliative Care Specialty Interest Group events
Modules, Readings, and Recorded Lectures
- Complete the Center to Advance Palliative Care’s pain and symptom management modules
- Complete the readings and recorded lectures on the Palliative Care Certificate Canvas page
Specialized Coaching
- Assignment to a CARE-7 coach for professional mentoring with scheduled meetings at least 2x/year
- Assignment to a mentor from the Palliative and Advanced Illness Research Center for mentoring in research/assistance with scholarly project
Exposure to 2 weeks of Clinical Palliative Care (3rd/4th Year)
Choose 1:
- Palliative medicine elective at HUP/PPMC/PAH (MED304)
- Palliative medicine elective at the VA
Capstone Project
- Completion of scholarly project in 4th year related to care of patients with serious illness or the field of palliative care
Contact Leader
Concentration in Public Health
The Concentration in Public Health is offered through the Master in Public Health (MPH) program. This concentration provides transcript-level recognition for Penn medical students who have made an effort to expand their public health knowledge during medical school by completing required public health-related scholarly activities while enrolled in medical school at the University of Pennsylvania. Students already enrolled in the combined MD-MPH program are not eligible, because this AOC would be redundant.
Students interested in the Concentration in Public Health should contact Dr. Hillary Nelson, Director of the MPH Program.
Certificate Requirements
There are two requirements for the AOC. First, students must take at least two PUBH courses. Second, students must either do a public health immersion experience OR a scholarly pursuit that is public health focused.
1. Public Health Coursework
Students must take two PUBH-prefix courses.
- Courses will be chosen based on the students’ interest.
- Students must receive a B- or above for the course to count towards the AOC.
- Students can use the medical school’s Additional Courses Policy & Guideline to cover tuition for these two courses.
2. Scholarly Pursuit that is public health focused
- Students interested in pursuing the concentration should consult with the MPH program office prior to initiating their scholarly pursuit to ensure appropriateness of their project(s). Registration is via the standard MD scholarly pursuit process which includes approval from the Associate Dean for Curriculum.
3. Public health immersion experience examples include:
- Public Health research internship, (must be a research project that is relevant to public health, as determined by the MD-MPH Steering Committee).
- Bridging the Gaps (must be at a site that is relevant to public health, as determined by the MD-MPH Steering Committee).
- A global health immersion experience (students should confirm eligibility in advance to ensure that their planned summer experience is appropriate).
- Student leader at one of the student led community clinics: https://www.med.upenn.edu/diversityume/studentledclinics.html.
- Other experiences may be considered by the MD-MPH Advisory Committee on a case-by-case basis.
- Students must write up a reflection piece following their public health immersion experience.
In addition, all Concentration in Public Health students are encouraged to attend seminars and institutes sponsored by the Center for Public Health (CPH)
Suggest Courses - Descriptions
PUBH 5020 Introduction to the Principles and Methods of Epidemiology (fall and spring semesters, evening or afternoon)
This course is designed to introduce students in all branches of public health to the principles and methods of epidemiology and its approaches and applications. The course introduces the basic epidemiological study designs, including randomized trials and observational studies (cohort, case-control, cross-sectional, ecological), and presents the foundations to understand risk, disease surveillance, and modeling.
PUBH 5040 Public Theories and Frameworks (fall, spring, and summer semesters, evening or afternoon)
This introductory course is intended to provide students with a foundation in behavioral and social science theory in the context of public health research, policy, and practice. The content of this course will provide exposure to a broad range of theories and frameworks commonly employed in the field of public health for understanding health behaviors. These theories will be discussed using examples of their applications to numerous public health problems including, but not limited to: tobacco use, exercise, obesity, HIV/AIDS, violence, cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, environmental hazards, COVID-19, and global health.
PUBH 5050 Public Health Policy and Administration (fall, spring, and summer semesters, evening or afternoon)
This course is an introduction to health policy and management. It examines both the historical and current state of health policy in America and integrates these concepts within the context of public health practice. We will examine key concepts in understanding US health care organization, financing and delivery, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) examining the role and management issues of public health departments, and case studies in public health policy and management.
PUBH 5060 Methods for Public Health Practice (fall, spring, and summer semesters, evening or afternoon)
This course provides students with a foundation in public health practice methods with a focus on program planning. The course leads the student through the key phases of program planning from the identification of the public health problem, to assessing community needs, designing an intervention, and planning for implementation and evaluation.
PUBH 5070 Public Health Law and Ethics (fall, spring, and summer semesters, evening or afternoon)
Taking the right actions to protect and improve the public’s health must be done in a societal context that defines what is legal, ethical, and good policy. This course introduces key concepts of legal, ethical, and policy analysis as applied to public health activities and initiatives. It demonstrates using current examples how these factors empower, guide, and constrain public health decision-making and actions.
PUBH 5190 Issues in Global Health (fall semester, evening)
This course presents issues in global health from the viewpoint of many different disciplines, with emphasis on economically less developed countries. Subjects include: recent history of global health; demography and population projections; global water shortage; food supplies and the green revolution; environmental health; measures of disease burden; social determinants of health; literacy and health; health manpower and capacity development; ethical relativism and cultural norms; women’s rights and women’s health; setting priorities in health; primary health care systems; community health programs in low resource settings; harm reduction and behavioral modification; international organizations funding global health; selected communicable diseases; AIDS and HIV prevention; zoonotic infectious diseases and emerging infectious diseases; malaria; vaccines; selected non-communicable diseases; reproductive health; tobacco-associated disease and its control; the nutritional transition; injuries and their prevention.
PUBH 5250 Health and Human Rights (fall semester, evening)
This course will explore the interplay between health and human rights, enabling students to critically apply human rights to public health practice, particularly in the global health domain. We will explore the development of health as a human right and how public health research and policy can affect human rights. Students will learn about core human rights principles and mechanisms and the international development agenda.
PUBH 5700 Adolescent and Young Adult Health and Health Leadership (spring semester, evening)
Adolescent and Young Adult Health and Health Policy examines the health and well-being of young people between 10 and 26 years of age in the United States, and the influence of systems and policy on the health of this important age group. The course includes an examination of adolescent and young adult (AYA) health and well-being within a life-course framework; biological, psychological, gender and sexual development between 10 and 26 years of age including issues specific to sexual minority youth; nutritional health and health policy; and reproductive health and health policy.
PUBH 5890 Public Health and Cognitive Aging (spring semester, evening or afternoon)
This course is an opportunity to understand two relatively new public health problems -- Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive aging – and to use this knowledge to identify and address the broad set of challenges created by cognitive impairment in industrialized nations, challenges at the intersections of medicine, ethics, public policy, culture and health care. Students will learn about the history of Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive aging and their current definitions, the concepts of cognition and function and how they are assessed, the science and practice of measuring the disease’s prevalence and mortality, autonomy and capacity, risk and preventative factors for cognitive decline, the demography and economics of caregiving, and the public health initiatives and models of care that could enhance cognition and maintain independence.
PUBH 5880 Leadership Skills in Community Health (spring semester, evening)
Grounded in a social justice perspective, this inter-professional course aims to provide the medical/nursing/social policy and practice/ public health student with a foundational overview of the field of community health and leadership skills in public health advocacy.
* This is a very abbreviated list of courses taken by medical students doing the concentration. Courses can be found through http://courses.upenn.edu/. Some of the electives not listed above have pre-requisites, so it is important to work with the MPH program to plan appropriately for courses based on public health interests.
This program enables students to describe the importance of incorporating spiritual care into a health care system; to integrate patients’ spiritual issues and resources into ongoing treatment and plans for care; to demonstrate the ability to engage and remain fully present with a patient; to practice curious inquiry—a nonjudgmental practice of exploration without goals or expectations; and to identify the role spirituality plays in one’s professional life.
Requirements
- 6-week summer internship program (a stipend is provided, applications are due annually by March 1st)
- Non-credit training experience
- Healer's Arts parts I & II (years 1 and 4)
- Observational experiences
- Chaplain shadowing (year 1)
- Grief rounds in the MICU (year 4)
- Didactic experiences
- Attend four, minimum, annual Sparkman Lectures in Spirituality, Religion and Medicine and/or monthly Spirituality, Religion and Health Interest Group Lectures
- Clinical/patient rotations (years 3 and 4), choose one:
- Palliative Medicine
- Geriatric Medicine
- IMPaCT
- Pediatrics
- Critical Care Medicine
- Psychiatry
- An experience in counseling, advising, or mentoring:
- A medical school experience, such as facilitating in the Doctoring course or serving as a coordinator for IDEAL MEd's Summer Mentor Program for Philadelphia High School Students
- An experience around some aspect of clinical care
- An experience engaging people in crisis (e.g., domestic violence, suicide risk, etc.)
- Scholarly Pursuit in Spirituality and Health (year 4)