June 04, 2010 02:08am EST 

In 1963, The Pennsylvania State University received $50 million from The M.S. Hershey Foundation to create a medical school in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Using the grant and $21.3 million from the U.S. Public Health Service, the University built the Penn State Hershey College of medicine, a teaching hospital, and a research center. With a mission of “enhancing the quality of life through improved health, the professional preparation of those who will serve the health needs of others, and the discovery of knowledge that will benefit all,” the Penn State College of Medicine continues to serve the community through education, research, and patient care. The College of Medicine embraces the follow values in pursuit of their mission:
Individual Dignity
Its central responsibility to its patients is to provide humane, compassionate, and expert care, emphasizing individual dignity.
Knowledge
The creative and energetic pursuit and dissemination of new knowledge to its colleagues, students, and the public at large form the cornerstones of its educational purpose.
Service Orientation
Its employees are the foundation of its orientation to service. The skill, creativity, loyalty, and energy of its employees are the source of our effectiveness.
Excellence
A commitment to excellence in all activities will be the basis for the selection of the most talented and humane scientists, teachers, health-care providers, students, and employees in all fields.
Fiscal Responsibility
Effective and prudent use of financial, human, and physical resources is its moral responsibility and is essential to its viability.
Diversity
It is committed to diversity among the faculty, staff, students, and volunteers and to promoting an environment of mutual support and respect for others. Differences in ethnicity, culture, and socioeconomic status are valued organizational assets. Diversity of individual backgrounds and points of view are affirmed and respected.
Since it first began accepting patients in 1967 to May of 2008, the College of Medicine has graduated 3,619 physicians 598 scientists with PH.D or M.S. degrees and enrolls more than 600 students. Over 21,000 health professionals participate in continuing education at the School of Medicine, including professionals from their affiliate hospital, Penn State Hershey Medical Center.
With degree programs in anatomy, biochemistry and molecular biology, bioengineering, cell and molecular biology, genetics, integrative bio-sciences, microbiology and immunology, neuroscience, pharmacology, and physiology, as well as two postdoctoral programs leading to an M.S. degree in Laboratory Animal Medicine, the only such program in the Commonwealth.
The school works in conjunction with the teaching hospital, Penn State Hershey Medical Center. The hospital has recently completed several carefully planned construction projects to meet patient demand for services and to expand research and teaching programs. Each year, more than 360 residents are trained in different medical specialties at the hospital. The hospital admitted 26,684 patients and provided care to 808,642 outpatient and 50,331 emergency-service visits in 2008. It also houses 8,432 employees and 500 volunteers.
Physicians that graduate from the Penn State College of Medicine must demonstrate altruism, be knowledgeable, be skillful, and demonstrate professionalism. It is this standard that keeps the College of Medicine going strong as a medical institution providing high-quality, versatile education, compassionate patient care, and ground-breaking research. Visit their website for more information.