Penn State College of Medicine remained a desirable choice for aspiring physicians and scientists in 2006-07. In fact, one out of every six individuals who applied to medical school in the United States applied to Penn State College of Medicine, and more than 500 individuals applied to our graduate programs. Those who were accepted to and graduated from the College of Medicine during the past year collectively performed at a high level.

The College saw an increase of nearly 1,000 medical student applications over the previous year. And the academic credentials of students seeking entry into Penn State remained impressive. The average GPA and individual element MCAT scores among applicants went up from 3.66 to 3.68 and from 9.66 to 9.78, respectively. The GRE scores of students matriculating into our graduate programs also increased from 518 to 523 on the verbal exam and from 673 to 688 on the quantitative exam.

Ultimately, 154 medical students and 49 graduate students seeking Ph.D. and M.S. degrees matriculated to the College of Medicine in 2007, comprising the largest and arguably the most academically qualified incoming class in the College’s history. This year, Penn State medical students boasted an impressive 98 percent USMLE Step One pass rate, significantly higher than the national mean of 94 percent.

In May, the College of Medicine held its 37th annual commencement, conferring degrees upon 127 medical students and 43 graduate students. The 170 total graduates comprise the largest-ever graduating class since the College’s founding 40 years ago.

This year’s Match Day was very successful for both our students and residency programs.  In general, our students were quite pleased with the outcome of the match and approximately 25% matched into top-tier programs.  Our “institutional” residency program fill-rate for the match was 97%.  This is significantly higher than the national average of 90%.  This is a reflection of our dedicated residency program directors and our excellent teaching faculty.   One in five of the College’s graduating medical students is staying at Penn State Hershey Medical Center to complete residency training, 35 percent will remain in Pennsylvania for their residencies, and 48 percent chose to enter primary care residency programs.  Our Ph.D. graduates accepted postdoctoral positions at some of our nation’s premier institutions, including Harvard Medical School, The National Institutes of Health, Baylor College of Medicine and Washington University (St. Louis).