Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and Penn State Children's Hospital, located in Hershey, Pennsylvania, 10 miles (17 km) east of Harrisburg, are Penn State’s medical school and academic medical center.HistoryIn 1963, the M. S. Hershey Foundation offered $50 million to the Pennsylvania State University to establish a medical school and teaching hospital in Hershey, Pennsylvania. With this grant and $21.3 million from the U.S. Public Health Service, the University built a medical school, teaching hospital, and research center. Ground was broken in 1966 and Penn State's College of Medicine opened its doors to the first class of students in 1967. Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center accepted its first patients in 1970.The original buildings at Penn State Hershey Medical Center included the Medical Science Building and medical center, Animal Research Farm, Laundry and Steam Plant, and University Manor Apartments. Since 1970, the campus has grown from 318 to 550acre. Many additions have been made to the academic and patient-care facilities.Today, Penn State Hershey Medical Center has completed several carefully planned construction projects. Additions were made to reflect a steady increase in patient demand for services and to expand research and teaching programs.Penn State College of Medicine students have gone on to become productive physicians and scientists. As of May 2011, the College of Medicine has granted 3,904 medical degrees and 1,004 graduate degrees. The College of Medicine offers degree programs in anatomy, biochemistry and molecular biology, bioengineering, cell and molecular biology, genetics, integrative biosciences, microbiology and immunology, neuroscience, pharmacology, and physiology, and two postdoctoral programs leading to an M.S. degree in Laboratory Animal Medicine, the only such program in the Commonwealth, and a M.S. in Public Health Sciences and a newly inaugurating M.P.H. Graduate program. Each year, more than 550 resident physicians are trained in medical specialties at the Medical Center.
