Welcome to the Department of Medicine
From the Chair
Dr. Robert Aber, M.D., M.A.C.P.
Since its founding in 1969, The Department of Medicine has been committed to the excellence in each of our missions –Education, Patient Care, Research, and Service. The Department is the largest and, arguably, the most complex in the College of Medicine and Medical Center, and comprises 10 Divisions and several programs, approximately 200 faculty, 90 residents, 60 fellows, and 96 staff members.
Faculty engage learners at all levels, including students enrolled in our medical and graduate schools, residents, fellows, and physician colleagues. We have 10 ACGME accredited fellowship programs. Ten faculty have been selected to join the College’s Academy of Distinguished Educators since its founding in 2002, and many more have received a Department teaching or mentoring award over the years.
Patient care includes busy inpatient services in Cardiology, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, General Internal Medicine (hospitalists), and Critical Care Medicine. Our outpatient visits have grown substantially over the years now approaching 100,000 per year. Many of our physicians are recognized each year as being among the top 10% nationally in patient satisfaction scores, and are included among the top doctors in America. Our focus on providing highest quality of care and patient safety has intensified over the past several years.
Our research programs are quite broad, and have reached over $50 million in total sponsored research at the end of the 2011 fiscal year. Faculty in the department have lead our recent successful application for an NIH Clinical and Translational Science Award. Penn State University is a top tier public research university in America, and many of our faculty engage in collaborative research with faculty in other Colleges at Penn State. Residents, fellows, and medical/graduate students participate in clinical, basic, or translational research with our faculty.
Service includes activities within the College of Medicine and Medical Center; participation in local, regional, national, and international organizations and societies; and activities in the community. One example is participation of our faculty and residents in Lion Care, a student-run organization which provides free health care to homeless persons in nearby Harrisburg.
I invite you to explore our website to learn more about us, and to contact me directly with any questions or comments. Thank you for visiting!
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Bariatric surgery restores nerve cell properties altered by diet
Understanding how gastric bypass surgery changes the properties of nerve cells that help regulate the digestive system could lead to new treatments that produce the same results without surgery, according to Penn State College of Medicine scientists, who have shown how surgery restores some properties of nerve cells that tell people their stomachs are full.More...
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Penn State College of Medicine awarded $1 million AMA grant
Penn State College of Medicine has been awarded a prestigious $1 million grant by the American Medical Association as part of a program aimed at transforming the way the physicians of tomorrow are trained.More...
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Penn State Hershey entrepreneurs win first 'startup boot camp' awards
Dr. Joseph Sassani, ophthalmologist at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and professor of ophthalmology and pathology at Penn State College of Medicine, is the winner of The TechCelerator@Hershey’s inaugural Eight Week Boot Camp program for promising entrepreneurs.More...
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Collaborative Hershey and University Park medical service trip
This spring brought the first collaborative spring break service trip for University Park undergraduates and Hershey medical students and physicians.More...