Welcome to the Department of Medicine at the Pennsylvania Hospital, and thank you for your interest in our residency program. As a former residency program director, training medical residents and students has always been a passion of mine, and supporting and enhancing the teaching mission at Pennsylvania Hospital is one of my highest priorities. Playing an active role in such a well-established and effective residency program is truly one of the highlights of my job.
Our hospital, the first in the nation, is well into its third century, and we are exceptionally proud of our long tradition of resident and student education beginning with our first intern, Jacob Ehrenzeller, in 1773. We are also particularly mindful of our responsibility to guard Pennsylvania Hospital’s long legacy and to continue to provide our residents with the very best training to prepare them for a career of service to their patients, mentorship to their own students, and for becoming life-long learners.
Pennsylvania Hospital has served as one of the core teaching hospitals for medical students from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania for many decades and remains one of the main clinical and teaching institutions of the University of Pennsylvania Health System. The hospital has large departments in Obstetrics and Gynecology, providing general and high risk care with the largest number of deliveries in the Philadelphia area; all surgical subspecialties, including robust and innovative programs in Joint Replacement, Otorhinolaryngology and Neurosurgery; and leading clinical and academic programs in Radiology, Radiation Oncology, Neonatology, Neurology, Dermatology, Emergency Medicine, and Psychiatry. Our patient population is diverse, both in demographics and disease spectrum, serving both the local Philadelphia area and the broader region, with a very large referral base from outlying areas.
The mission of our full time academic faculty of the Department of Medicine is to provide outstanding patient care and to teach residents and students, with the highest of educational standards and expectations. Our interns and residents have the unique opportunity to work closely on a daily basis with our highly experienced and truly exceptional faculty. We provide our residents with a rigorous educational curriculum through didactic sessions, morning report, conferences and at the bedside with what we believe is the ideal mix of guidance and independence.
We provide career development, advice, and mentoring for all our residents as they plan their futures. Research during residency is strongly facilitated, taking advantage of the many opportunities offered by our own faculty as well as those at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. Caring for patients with the full spectrum of acute and chronic illnesses coupled with our educational program prepare our house staff for the next step in their careers, whether as subspecialists, hospitalists, or as primary care physicians.
We look forward to meeting you and to your joining us as we educate our interns and residents in a supportive, nurturing, and outstanding educational environment this coming year and for the many years ahead.
Marc Shalaby, MD
Chairman, Department of Medicine, Pennsylvania Hospital
Professor of Clinical Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania