Welcome to the University of Pennsylvania Department of Medicine! I hope you are able to spend a little time to learn what’s happening in this great department. Our department is housed within the nation’s first School of Medicine, with its rich 250-year legacy of achievement. We are part of Penn Medicine, an integrated organization that includes the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and the University of Pennsylvania Health System.
The over-arching goals of our department have changed little since the appointment of Dr. John Morgan as Chair of the Department in 1765. These include:
- Continually evolve, adapt, and maintain our national leadership amongst departments of academic internal medicine
- Catalyze high-impact discovery in basic, translational and clinical, and health services research
- Develop models of comprehensive, patient-centered care that deliver superior value, quality and outcomes
- Innovate in medical education and train future leaders in Academic Medicine
- Create a collegial, intellectually exciting and supportive environment in which to work
The Department of Medicine is home to over 800 faculty members and over 400 trainees who take pride in a culture that values collaboration, diversity and inclusion. Our faculty members are highly distinguished and receive major national and international awards. The department is home to faculty members with a broad array of expertise spanning clinical care, medical education, biomedical discovery and health policy. The website provides links to our divisions and faculty members as well as a search engine to guide you.
Residents and fellows are the life blood of our department! The department is home to 175 residents in the categorical, preliminary and primary care programs as well as 20 residents in the medicine-pediatrics and another 5 residents in medicine-dermatology programs. We pride ourselves on our tradition of national leadership and innovation in medical education. Our medical residency includes embedded tracks for physician-scientists, global health equities, quality and leadership, and medical education. Our divisions are home to nationally recognized ACGME accredited fellowship training programs and over 200 fellows-in-training. The website contains links to our residency and fellowship training programs.
The Department is comprised of 13 world-class divisions including the division of General Medicine, each medical specialty division and our newly formed division of Hospital Medicine. The Department is also home to several multi-disciplinary centers and institutes. Our faculty are internationally recognized for breakthrough discoveries impacting medical care, including most recently the discovery of LNP-modified mRNA used for vaccine development. Our faculty receive over $300,000,000 in extramural funding and publish over 150 high-impact (i.e. top 22 biomedical journals) manuscripts annually. Over the past decade, Penn Medicine and our department has become internationally recognized for high-impact translational research and first-in-man clinical research. We recognize the unique role that physician scientists and clinical investigators play in biomedical discovery and we have prioritized investment in the next generation of world-class physician-scientists.
We continue to innovate new patient-centered models of care distributed through the Mid-Atlantic region’s premier health network. Our clinical programs are distinguished by complementary clinical research programs and clinical trials including Penn’s internationally recognized program in Cancer Immunotherapy. Our faculty practice is positioned within state-of-the-art clinical facilities including our four core Philadelphia hospitals (Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Pennsylvania Hospital, and the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz Philadelphia VA Medical Center) and a regional network of multi-specialty centers-of-excellence including the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine (PCAM), Penn Medicine University City, Penn Medicine at Radnor, Penn Medicine at Valley Forge, and Penn Medicine at Cherry Hill. Penn Medicine has the largest regional primary care network. Our department also includes nationally recognized subspecialty programs bridging clinical care and research in areas including bone marrow transplantation, solid organ transplantation (heart, lung, kidney and liver), cardiac electrophysiology, interventional cardiology, interstitial lung disease (ILD), pulmonary hypertension, HIV, vasculitis, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), advanced endoscopy and many other areas.
I appreciate your interest in the University of Pennsylvania Department of Medicine. Though founded over 250 years ago, I am much more excited about the future than our remarkable past. Indeed, I believe there has never been a better time to be part of this great Department. If I can answer any questions for you personally, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly.
With best regards,
Michael S. Parmacek, MD
Frank Wister Thomas Professor
Chair, Department of Medicine