MD Viewbook 2023

Doctor of Medicine

MD Program

Doctor of Medicine

MD Program

A message from the president and dean

As the post-pandemic healthcare landscape comes into focus, two things are abundantly clear:

• Medicine’s focus must be quality and outcomes — sometimes stated simply as “value;” and

• It’s a simple truth that complex, interlocking systems drive healthcare — and physicians who comprehend those systems thrive and deliver better patient care.

Geisinger has been a leader in value-based care and systems science long before these were buzzwords. Our visionary initiatives like ProvenCare analyze how our doctors can virtually guarantee positive outcomes. MyCode, with more than 300,000 sequenced genomes, is used to place precision medicine where it belongs — in the clinic and in the hands of primary care providers. Our robust research arm is uniquely focused on discovery that jumps directly from hypothesis to health. And while we use machine learning and AI and every technological tool to our patients’ advantage, we don’t forget that where our neighbors work, where they live and what our communities look like greatly influence health. That’s why we emphasize health equity and innovate in the human sphere, with groundbreaking programs like the Fresh Food Farmacy, that provides healthy, nutritious groceries for entire households, and 65 Forward, that recognizes the unique needs of an aging population.

This is what makes our education uniquely Geisinger. Leveraging Geisinger’s acclaimed clinical and technological strengths, we emphasize active learning, early clinical exposure, and community immersion. That’s why Geisinger Commonwealth graduates are known for authentic empathy, in addition to residency-ready clinical skills. We educate the kind of doctors who will lead healthcare teams of the future. If this is the future physician you’d like to be, Geisinger Commonwealth is the place for you to learn.

Sincerely,

Julie Byerley, MD, MPH

President, Geisinger College of Health Sciences Dean, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine Executive Vice President and Chief Academic Officer, Geisinger

Total Health Curriculum

The Total Health Curriculum is built on the science of learning and uses an evidence-based approach to train skilled, compassionate physicians who provide individualized care of patients and promote health in the communities they serve. In addition to providing a fully integrated and immersive educational experience in basic, clinical and health systems sciences, the curriculum emphasizes six longitudinal themes, including Social Justice and Health Equity, Health System Citizenship, Primary Care, Personal and Professional Development, Community Immersion and Population Health. These themes are part of the Systems, Society and Humanism in Medicine (SSHM) core curriculum and will transform socially responsible students into socially accountable leaders in the healthcare system and their communities. SSHM fosters the development of compassionate and adaptable physicians dedicated to a person-centered approach to improving the health and wellbeing of the patients and communities they serve.

At Geisinger Commonwealth, we envision our Total Health Curriculum as a tree, like the tree of knowledge that forms our seal. The roots correspond to Phase 1 – Principles of Science and Practice, which encompasses foundational education rooted in basic, clinical and health system sciences. The trunk epitomizes Phase 2 – Core Clinical Immersion With roots firmly planted, you will build a solid body of clinical experiences that begins early and grows in complexity and meaning. The trunk provides firm support for the branches, which represent Phase 3 – Career Differentiation and Exploration.

You are now ready to branch off in your own direction. Following your core clinical experiences, you will progress in the development of advanced clinical skills and training that suits your individual interests and career goals.

At a

glance:

Total Health Curriculum

Phase 1 Principles of Medical Science and Practice

Phase 1 includes three semesters. The curriculum is organized into integrated, system-based blocks and features learning through the Clinical Presentation Model and other active learning formats.

At a glance: Phase 1

At a glance: Phase 1

weeks of instructional time 2 courses: Integrated Science Course (ISC) and Physician and Patient Centered Care (PPCC)

Phase 2

Core Clinical Immersion

Phase 2 contains a Transition to Clerkship/Orientation course, five clerkship blocks, bridge weeks, a Transition to Phase 3 course and components of the required Career Pathway Program. Clerkship experiences include Family Medicine, Medicine, OB-GYN, Pediatrics, Neurology, Psychiatry and Surgery. Diagnostic Medicine is a component of all clerkship blocks.

At a glance: Phase 2

Clinical blocks

Transition to Clerkships

Curriculum overview*

Hones clinical skills and provides necessary clerkship overviews and trainings in preparation to enter the clinical space. Regional orientation sessions also included.

Ambulatory

Medicine

Women’s and Children’s

Outpatient experience within Family Medicine, Geriatrics, Pediatrics and Musculoskeletal Medicine.

Inpatient and outpatient experience with exposure to general medicine and subspecialty medicine fields.

Inpatient Pediatrics, newborn nursery and pediatric subspecialty areas combined with OB-GYN curricular experiences in labor and delivery, gynecologic surgery and outpatient clinic.

Neurosciences

Combined experience with inpatient and outpatient Neurology and Psychiatry services. Neuroscience subspeciality opportunities include Neurosurgery, ENT, Child Neurology, Addictions Medicine, Pain Medicine, Neuropsychiatry, and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Surgery

Transition to Phase 3

Core General Surgery rotations with intentional exposure to subspecialty surgical fields.

Transitional curriculum that reflects on the students clerkship year experiences and provides enhanced skill development to prepare for the advanced clinical requirements in the Phase 3 year.

*Length of curriculum blocks is based on Medical Curriculum Committee review each year.

The hospitals ranked high-performing for a variety of specific procedures and conditions include: Geisinger Bloomsburg Hospital, Geisinger Community Medical Center, Geisinger Jersey Shore Hospital, Geisinger Lewistown Hospital, Geisinger Medical Center, Geisinger St. Luke's Hospital and Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center.

Geisinger hospitals have been recognized for high performance in the 2023 U.S. News & World Report “Best Hospitals” rankings. 7

Phase 3 Career Differentiation and Exploration

Phase 3 includes required core clinical rotations, expanded elective exploration opportunities and a formal Transition to Residency course.

At a glance: Phase 3 - Requirements for advanced clinical experiences*

Activity

Required rotations

Curriculum overview*

Advanced clinical experiences including Medicine subinternship, Critical Care Medicine, Emergency Medicine and Health Systems Interprofessional Sciences.

Elective opportunities

Transition to residency

Elective opportunities to enhance student learning and expand knowledge in specialty areas, research, medical humanities and teaching.

Students participate in a variety of in-person and virtual sessions that will prepare them for transition into the graduate medical education phase of their training.

Take

Student spotlight

Anitza Quintero

Inspired by her parents, Abigail Geisinger Scholar Anitza Quintero’s mission is to care for those who are most vulnerable. “I’ve always been passionate about helping underserved populations and people who don’t have access to healthcare. I think that passion comes from my background and my family,” she said. “We’re Cuban and we’re a big family — we’re very loving with each other. My parents experienced a lot of hardships in Cuba, so they left on a raft in 1995. When I say raft, I don’t mean an inflatable boat — it’s literally made of wood and tires, and it’s very scary. They were rescued at sea about 18 hours into the journey.”

Using the strength and work ethic her parents instilled in her, Quintero wanted to help others.

Propelled by her desire to be of service, Quintero went to South and Central America on mission trips in college. After graduation, she worked in a small Texas border town helping migrant children as a case manager. These experiences helped solidify her decision to pursue medicine.

“Working at the border, I felt like I was doing real work for a big, important issue, which is serving

underserved populations,” she said. “In Peru and Costa Rica, I worked in churches where we’d set up a tent outside and perform basic exams. I even administered some vaccines. Being hands-on, learning and immersing myself in a different culture started drawing my attention to community-focused medical schools. I found that Geisinger was doing that; it was helping the community. Very early on I realized that Geisinger values giving — not only giving financial support but giving your time and passion. I think giving is the foundation of change, so that resonated with me.”

As a Florida native unfamiliar with Geisinger, Quintero wanted to learn more. “The more research I did, I found out there’s actually a program dedicated to helping the community. What better way to teach young, incoming medical students that this is the way you’ll work later on. You’ll make sure your patients come back to you and follow your recommendations. You’re transforming these principles into real-time work, and that’s something that I value. I’ve seen other schools say they do things, but here I am actually seeing it done. I’m so thankful that it’s real.”

Systems, Society, and Humanism in Medicine (SSHM)

A strength of the Geisinger Commonwealth Total Health Curriculum is the integration of six longitudinal themes that transform responsible students into socially accountable leaders in the healthcare system and their communities. These themes foster the development of compassionate and adaptable physicians dedicated to a person-centered approach to improving the health and well-being of the patients and communities they serve. These themes are collectively called Systems, Society, and Humanism in Medicine (SSHM).

1. Social Justice and Health Equity: Ensures awareness and recognition of historic inequities in medicine to establish the next generation of physicians as agents of change. Students will learn to recognize their own biases and practice cultural humility in their interaction with patients and colleagues.

2. Health System Citizenship: Prepares future doctors to contribute to quality improvement, participate in early adoption of technology and function in teambased models of care. This theme delves deeply into healthcare delivery science and leverages the strength of Geisinger’s value-based care model to focus on system improvement.

3. Primary Care: Focuses attention on the most critical health need in the nation and centers the future physician’s approach on wellness and disease prevention, regardless of medical specialty.

4. Personal and Professional Development: Supplies the tools, skills and knowledge necessary to promote lifelong learning and skill development, personal wellness and career development.

5. Community Immersion: Enables meaningful relationships with and accountability to the community. Students engage in service learning with mentorship by both community leaders and patients.

6. Population Health: Leverages Geisinger’s signature programs to introduce future physicians to successful models that recognize and mitigate the social determinants of health that affect individual patients, neighborhoods, communities and populations.

Student spotlight

Justina Warnick

Justina Warnick grew up in a Geisinger family and was cared for by Geisinger doctors since her birth. Her father is a mechanic at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center and her brother is an orthopaedic surgical resident at Geisinger Medical Center. Despite these close ties to healthcare, Warnick said her parents didn’t apply any special pressure when it came to her choice of career. Instead, a novel project in high school served as her inspiration to pursue medicine.

“In ninth-grade algebra, I was required to compete an interdisciplinary project. I made a roller coaster called ‘Murder She Rode’ that reflected a parabolic equation and was surrounded by intricately detailed rooms of a crime. I had to use science and math, but also art,” she said. “I enjoyed the project because of the breadth of expertise it required in several disciplines, and I realized medicine was the same — scientific knowledge is critical, but so are communication, empathy and compassion.”

As a pre-med student at Dickinson College, she decided primary care was her passion. “During a course called ‘Spanish for the Health Professions,’ I completed service learning at a migrant healthcare clinic. I served as an interpreter and almost felt like I

was a doctor, because I spoke directly to the patients. The patients were so grateful and the information we provided had so much impact. I felt that this is what I wanted to do with my career,” she said.

Her decision to focus on primary care made Geisinger Commonwealth and its Abigail Geisinger Scholars Program the obvious choice for medical school. As a medical student, Warnick has continued to be an advocate of underserved communities. She was elected president of the Pediatric Outreach Group for Students (POGS). Among her accomplishments in this leadership role was organizing a vaccine clinic where POGS members taught 73 fellow Geisinger Commonwealth medical students how to administer vaccines, understand the pediatric vaccine schedule and combinations, navigate vaccine hesitancy conversations, and manage vaccinations in immune-compromised patients. She also pioneered several events to reach different groups of children in the area including a clothing and book drive at St. Joseph’s Center, a Pinwheels for Child Abuse Prevention Garden, Giving Tree for the Children’s Advocacy Center, and a t-shirt sale to raise money for the local Ronald McDonald House.

Clinical Presentation Model

Traditional medical education relies on teaching basic, clinical and health system science concepts; however, these concepts must be well integrated and appropriately framed in clinical context. The Phase 1 curriculum uses the Clinical Presentation Model to integrate all content within the context of a clinical presentation. A clinical presentation is the mode by which a patient presents to a physician and represents the clinical problem a physician is expected to manage.

Big picture: The curriculum begins and ends with a focus on the patient, specifically the patient’s clinical presentation.

Deconstruct and independent learning: Each clinical presentation is broken down into its basic, clinical and health system science content and students will use resources in our knowledge repository to focus on learning objectives in preparation for in-class work.

Experiencing: Large and small group active learning activities are designed to have students apply knowledge in a clinical context.

Reassemble big picture: For each clinical presentation, student groups will summarize material for their classmates, re-integrating all content in a large group interactive session.

Regional campus model

Geisinger Commonwealth offers a communitybased model of medical education with five regional campuses: Central (Danville), Guthrie (Sayre), Northeast (Scranton and Wilkes-Barre), West (Lewistown and State College) and AtlantiCare (Atlantic City, N.J.).

Medical students at Geisinger Commonwealth complete their clinical training at their assigned regional campus.

Each campus offers:

• Exposure to urban and rural settings, allowing abundant, diverse clinical experiences.

• Outstanding clinical partners thanks to affiliation agreements with several hospitals and healthcare systems, as well as physicians and health professionals in private practice, community health centers and other sites throughout our region.

• Well-developed research capabilities.

To explore our regional campuses, visit: go.geisinger.edu/gcsomregionalcampuses

Approximately 2,400 physicians and healthcare professionals in northeast and central Pennsylvania, southern New York and southern New Jersey serve as Geisinger Commonwealth clinical faculty members.

Geisinger Commonwealth experiences

Learning communities

We follow the well-known adage “it takes a village” by offering students a ready-made “village” of faculty, interprofessional staff and peers within the larger school community that engages students and their personal and professional identity formation.

Community well-being

As a system, Geisinger has devoted significant resources to examining the unique health needs of the communities it serves and proposing novel solutions that can be applied locally but transferred globally.

Our impact is felt economically (Geisinger has an annual $9.9 billion positive impact on Pennsylvania’s economy), but more importantly, it’s felt in the ways our presence uplifts our neighbors and improves the region’s quality of life through initiatives like:

• REACH-HEI (Regional Education Academy for Careers in Health – Higher Education Initiative), an out-of-school experience that provides academic enrichment opportunities for students who are economically disadvantaged or under-represented in medicine.

• Fresh Food Farmacy, serving patients with Type 2 diabetes (and their household) with enough

healthy food to make 10 nutritious meals each week — and a clinical care team that moves them toward better health.

• 65 Forward, primary care designed exclusively for patients 65 and older, featuring more time with physicians, social and educational activities and all ancillary services offered under one roof.

• Family and Community Centered Experience, which incorporates longitudinal service learning, verbal and written reflections, and participation in existing Geisinger community outreach and wellness initiatives, all while engaging and partnering with the community to identify and address community priorities.

GME enriches the UME experience

The medical student/resident relationship is mutually enriching. Residents and fellows teach and mentor, and medical students benefit from seeing what residency/fellowship is really like. Geisinger has more than 600 residents and fellows, comprising 45 residency programs and 31 subspecialty fellowship programs, which encompass Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education physician programs, as well as dental, podiatry, pharmacy and others.

Student spotlight

Niraj Vyas, MBS ’19

The College of American Pathologists (CAP) awarded Niraj Vyas, a member of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine’s class of 2024, its 2023 Distinguished Medical Student Award.

The CAP Distinguished Medical Student Award recognizes pathology knowledge and engagement and is given to a medical student for outstanding achievement, great aptitude and interest in pathology.

Vyas is a member of Geisinger Commonwealth’s Medical Research Honors Program (MRHP), a longterm, hypothesis-driven research program. Students who complete the program and remain in good academic standing receive an honors distinction upon graduation.

As a program participant, Vyas won second place in the educational scholarship category of Geisinger’s 27th Annual Scholarship Days in 2022. He was the only medical student among the 18 winners. Research in emergency medicine helped him hone

his skills in implementation science, which he described as “one step beyond quality improvement.” He researched ways to apply Geisinger’s muchcelebrated surgical ProvenCare® program to patients with pneumonia.

“I like the detective aspect of pathology. To me that’s the thrill,” he said. “Pathology is where clinicians go to find answers to help their patients. The number of patients you help every day in pathology is incredibly high, it might be the highest in the hospital. It’s fulfilling to me to be able to serve so many patients all at once.”

Vyas is honored to receive the award but says it’s more a reflection on the excellent mentoring and research opportunities he has received at Geisinger from pathologists Sara Monaco, MD, and Renee Frank, MD, as well as from Chadd Kraus, DO, system director of Emergency Medicine Research, and Donna Volk, PhD, division chief of molecular and microbial diagnostics and development.

Research and scholarship

Geisinger Commonwealth students have many opportunities to engage in research and scholarship throughout their education. The Office of Research and Scholarship offers short- and long-term research programs, like the Summer Research Immersion Program (SRIP) and the Medical Research Honors Program (MRHP). In addition, SRIP gives stipends to 65 preclinical students to engage in summer research each year. Projects are conducted over eight weeks in the summer after the first year of medical school.

Throughout SRIP, students work directly with a faculty mentor and a research team on specific projects that include scientific research aimed at improving health in the laboratory setting or in a community setting, doing public health, community and clinical research that solve problems like access to care. As part of SRIP, students must submit an abstract and share their research findings with the community as an oral or poster presentation at the Summer Research Symposium.

MRHP is a long-term research program that advances a student’s fundamental scientific knowledge, refines their scholarly communication

and fosters a mindset of lifelong learning. Program participants submit a research project proposal, write a thesis and deliver an oral defense to complete the 4-year program. The research experience is guided by a research mentor, a thesis advisory committee and the program manager. Additionally, students write abstracts, present posters and publish findings while building their thesis defense. Participating students who meet all program requirements will graduate with an honors distinction.

Students are provided multiple occasions to present and publish their research findings, including presenting at the annual Spring Research Symposium or submitting their scholarly and creative work for publication in Geisinger Commonwealth’s Journal for Scholarly Research in Progress (SCRIP). This journal is published annually in both print and online mediums and is edited and produced with the assistance of student editors engaged in the editorial process.

go.geisinger.edu/researchandscholarship

MyCode: Personalizing healthcare

Geisinger’s research theme is to personalize healthcare by discovering ways to empower doctors to discern differences in patients — genetic, environmental or social — that impact quality and outcomes. Anchoring this theme is the MyCode® Community Health Initiative, a systemwide biobank storing blood and other samples for research use. MyCode analyzes the DNA of volunteers and has surpassed its latest goal of 300,000 participants.

Researchers use this vast body of data to transform knowledge of the genome into powerful intelligence that is personally relevant to individual patients. MyCode research has already been translated into ways to diagnose certain medical conditions earlier — even before symptoms appear — and to implement new treatments or medications to manage them.

MYCODE®

Scorecard

Total consented participants

2 million Geisinger patients

335,100

233,255 Samples provided

DNA sequences available for research

184,293*

142,852* DNA sequences eligible and analyzed for clinical review

Participants with clinical result reported

As of August 1, 2023

*These numbers are calculated from the current data set being evaluated and remain fixed for the duration of that data set. The remaining numbers are updated monthly.

4,539

When he was growing up in Baltimore, Nelson Sofoluke, MD, loved computers. Delving into the mechanics behind what made a program run appealed to his curiosity and he was delighted by seeing immediate responses when he tweaked a program. In fact, he was fairly certain he was going to have a career in computers — right up until his junior year at the University of Maryland when he had a neuroscience course. That course sparked his deep fascination with the brain and the ways surgeons can revive lost function by fixing the brain or nervous system.

“When I began to think about medicine, I felt that I would be choosing to do all of the things I loved most — solving problems, thinking critically, being a detective,” he said. Since Dr. Sofoluke’s call to become a surgeon came late in his college career, he began to look for master’s degree programs where he could get the basic science prerequisites necessary to apply to medical school. “The Master of Biomedical Sciences program was my introduction to Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine,” he said. “I chose it because I liked the community — it was small, and I felt at home there. The school was so integrated with

the community that I instantly felt a part of it. One of my favorite events at the school was the Alley Oop for Autism basketball tournament. All of my friends in the community came and played in it — it was open to everyone.”

Another of Dr. Sofoluke’s favorite memories of his time at Geisinger Commonwealth was sharing small group discussion as a medical student with Gino Mori, MD, a retired Scranton surgeon who decided to audit the first two years of medical school just for the intellectual stimulation. “In effect, he graduated with us,” he said, adding that he admired Dr. Mori’s dedication to lifelong learning.

Now in his final year of a seven-year residency at Geisinger, Dr. Sofoluke admits that, despite his confidence, he finds working in the OR the fulfillment of his dreams. “Neurosurgery has very high rewards because the risk is so great. When someone has a deficit and the surgery fixes it and function returns, the reward you feel is amazing. But I also think of how wrong things can go, so when patients trust you to touch them despite that risk, it’s humbling. Sometimes it’s nerve-wracking, but it’s always humbling.”

Nelson Sofoluke, MBS ’13, MD ’17

Neurosurgery resident at Geisinger

Student wellness

Taking a holistic approach to total health, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine offers a wealth of resources for students in regard to every aspect — or domain — that contributes to a person’s sense of well-being, physical, emotional, social, spiritual, intellectual, occupational, environmental and financial.

Resources

Geisinger Student Health Services (SHS): SHS minimizes health-related barriers to learning. The SHS office staff and website provide information and referral to urgent care, primary and specialty care, health insurance and credentialing.

Geisinger Student Psychological Services (SPS): SPS provides students with free and confidential services. This structure provides resources and care coordination across all counseling resources available through Geisinger Commonwealth, both at the Medical Sciences Building and at all regional campus sites. These resources include counselors in SPS, TimelyCare, and referral to local providers. TimelyCare is a digital solution that offers ondemand 24/7 access to mental health and medical care and a diverse, culturally competent provider network. Services include scheduled counseling, health coaching, yoga, meditation and self-care resources.

Center for Student Wellness: The Center develops, implements, and evaluates programs aimed at supporting and enhancing health professions student well-being in partnership with students. The Center collaborates with academic and health system leadership to develop and maintain learning environments that foster the intellectual, social, professional, and personal development of a diverse

health professions student population. It also includes the following dedicated spaces: fitness, recreation and relaxation space; multi-cultural center; meditation and prayer room; student government offices; kitchenette; student lounge.

Examples of programs offered through the Center for Student Wellness include Wake Up and Learn and Early Alert. Wake Up and Learn is a sleep education and surveillance program that was developed to improve knowledge, recognition, and time to treatment for sleep wake disorders among students. Early Alert is a comprehensive proactive wellness monitoring tool that checks-in with students weekly and provides information about the array of resources available through Geisinger Commonwealth.

Geisinger Peer Support: Peer Navigators are a student-led group that supports students in addressing academic stress, interpersonal conflicts, imposter syndrome, feelings of isolation and general mental health concerns.

CARE Team: The CARE Team provides support and referral services to students experiencing stress. By partnering with members of the community, the CARE Team strives to promote individual well-being and success while prioritizing community safety.

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA): MHFA is a course designed to give members of the public key skills to help someone who is developing a mental health problem or having a mental health crisis.

Match maker Career Pathways Program

The Career Pathways Program is a four-year longitudinal program that is part of the promotion process each year and is a graduation requirement. It relies on current career development theories and models to assist students in their professional identity formation, using the “Careers in Medicine” (CiM) model to support all phases of the career decisionmaking process for students.

The match

An abundance of resources ensure our students make the best residency match possible. Geisinger Commonwealth’s Center for Career Development utilizes a combination of career coaching, specialty advising and mentoring and the unique Career Pathways Program to help our students identify their specialty interests and future residencies. The process begins in the first year and continues to evolve every year through a combination of workshops, didactic sessions, panel discussions and individual meetings. As students progress

to their fourth year, collaborative team meetings are held weekly with the residency planning team to guide students through the application and interview season. National and institutional match data is used to ensure students successfully gain interviews and ultimately match to a residency program that best fits with their values, skills, and attributes. Students receive strategic coaching regarding the application submission and alumni provide peer mentoring, as needed.

Match 2023

Geisinger Commonwealth medical students participated in the match experience hosted by the National Resident Matching Program. Students interviewed across the country with residency programs in a wide range of specialties and programs.

Anesthesiology

• CMSRU/Cooper University Hospital-NJ

• Geisinger-PA

• Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania-PA

• ISMMS Mount Sinai Hospital-NY

• Oregon Health & Science University-OR

• Penn State Hershey Medical Center-PA

• University of Rochester/Strong Memorial-NY

Emergency Medicine

• Baylor College of Medicine-TX

• CMSRU/Cooper University Hospital-NJ

• Florida State University COM-FL

• Geisinger-PA

• Guthrie/Robert Packer Hosp-PA

• Jefferson Health-Northeast-PA

• Penn State Hershey Medical Center-PA

• Temple University Hospital-PA

• Thomas Jefferson University-PA

• University of South Florida Morsani COM-FL

Family Medicine

• Doylestown Hospital-PA

• Guthrie/Robert Packer Hospital-PA

• Hinsdale Hospital-IL

• Medical College of Georgia-GA

• Penn State Hershey Medical Center-PA

• ProHealth Waukesha Memorial Hospital-WI

• Temple University Hospital-PA

• University of South Florida Morsani COM-FL

• UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside-PA

General Surgery

• Crozer-Chester Medical Center-PA

• Geisinger-PA

• Guthrie/Robert Packer Hospital-PA

• Lankenau Medical Center-PA

• LSU School of Medicine-LA

• Methodist Hospital-TX

• St Lukes Hospital-PA

• Wellspan Health York Hospital-PA

Internal Medicine

• Albert Einstein Medical Center-PA

• Kaiser Permanente-Oakland-CA

• Mt Sinai Medical Center-FL

• NYU Long Island School of Medicine-NY

• Penn State Hershey Medical Center-PA

• Rutgers-R W Johnson Medical School-NJ

• St Lukes Hospital-PA

• SUNY Upstate Medical University-NY

• University of Maryland Medical Center-MD

• University of Texas HSC--TX

• West Virginia University School of Medicine-WV

• Zucker SOM-Northwell NS/LIJ-NY

Medicine-Pediatrics

• Albany Medical Center-NY

Medicine-Preliminary

• Lankenau Medical Center-PA

• SUNY HSC Brooklyn-NY

Medicine-Primary

• CMSRU/Cooper University Hospital-NJ

• Temple University Hospital-PA

Medicine-Preliminary/Neurology

• MedStar Union Memorial Hospital-MD

• Olive View-UCLA Medical Center-CA

Medicine-Preliminary/PM&R

• Albert Einstein Medical Center-PA

Neurology

• Geisinger-PA

• University of Florida College of Medicine-FL

• Walter Reed National Military Medical Center-MD

Neurology-Pediatrics

• Duke University Medical Center-NC

Obstetrics-Gynecology

• Crozer-Chester Medical Center-PA

• Geisinger-PA

• Rutgers-Newark Beth Israel Medical Center-NJ

• Thomas Jefferson University-PA

• UPMC Harrisburg-PA

Ophthamology

• Geisinger-PA

Orthopaedic Surgery

• Geisinger-PA

Otolaryngology

• Geisinger-PA

Pathology

• Emory University School of Medicine-GA

• University of Chicago Medical Center-IL

Pediatrics

• Baylor College of Medicine-TX

• Case Western/University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center-OH

• Johns Hopkins Hospital-MD

• TJU/Nemours Childrens Health-PA

• Tower Health/St Christophers Hospital-PA

• University of Chicago Medical Center-IL

• Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center-NC

• Yale-New Haven Hospital-CT

Plastic Surgery (Integrated)

• MedStar Georgetown University Hospital-DC

Psychiatry

• Lehigh Valley Hospital-PA

• Medical University of South Carolina-SC

• Penn State Hershey Medical Center-PA

• St Lukes Hospital-PA

• Tower Health/Reading Hospital-PA

• University of Maryland Medical Center-MD

• University of Rochester/Strong Memorial-NY

Surgery-Preliminary

• Geisinger-PA

Transitional

• Crozer-Chester Medical Center-PA

• Geisinger-PA

• Scripps Mercy Hospital-CA

• St Joseph’s Health-NY

• St Lukes Hosp-PA

• University of Maryland Medical Center-MD

Urology

• Albert Einstein Medical Center-PA

• University of Washington-WA

Professionalism

Communication skills

Cultural competency

Decision making

Residency program directors rate Geisinger Commonwealth alumni* early on in their PGY1 year in several key areas:

Abigail Geisinger Scholars Program

Geisinger believes that the future of medicine lies in robust primary care and psychiatry — care that anticipates and prevents disease, focuses on wellness and recognizes mental health and well-being as fundamental to stronger, more resilient communities. That’s why the Abigail Geisinger Scholars Program focuses on the following specialties:

• Family Medicine

• Internal Medicine

• Medicine-Pediatrics

• Psychiatry

Our scholars program frees medical students from the financial concerns that often derail their dreams. Abigail Geisinger Scholars will:

• Graduate without tuition debt

• Receive a $2,000 per month stipend

• Become a Geisinger-employed physician in one of the specialties listed above upon completion of residency training. One year of service equals one year of support.

Interested in applying?

Submit an American Medical College Application Service® (AMCAS®) primary application and Geisinger Commonwealth secondary application.

• Answer “yes” to the first question on the Geisinger Commonwealth secondary application regarding interest in applying for the Abigail Geisinger Scholars Program.

• Complete the question regarding primary care or psychiatry and provide any updates to your experiences that align with the Abigail Geisinger Scholars Program.

Students are selected to participate in this program based on the following criteria: financial need, merit, mission alignment, likelihood of staying at Geisinger beyond the service obligation and the interview assessment.

Primary Care 3+3 Accelerated Program

Finish medical school and residency in 6 years

This program allows accepted Abigail Geisinger Scholars to complete medical school in three years, followed by a three-year residency in one of the following programs:

• Family Medicine Residency at Geisinger Lewistown Hospital in our West Campus

• Kistler Family Medicine Residency at Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre in our Northeast Campus

• Internal Medicine Residency at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in our Northeast Campus

• Internal Medicine Residency at Geisinger Medical Center in our Central Campus

Overview

• Early immersion/orientation with staff/faculty and our residency programs

• Longitudinal Clinical Experience (LCE) at participating residencies early in the curriculum

• Scholarly summer immersion program with participating residencies

• Students spend one half-day per week in a continuity practice aligned with their residency during Phase 2 of the curriculum.

Advantages

• Medical school completion in 3 years

• Rigorous programing aimed for time efficiency and robust experiences

• Advising and mentoring by primary care and psychiatry physicians and residents

• Peer collaboration and fellowship

• Direct pathway into residency

To learn more, visit geisinger.edu/abigailscholars.

Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center was ranked No. 9 on the Fortune/Merative’s 2022 “25 Top Teaching Hospitals” list.

Apply

Admission requirements

Students seeking admission to Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine:

1. Complete the following premedical course requirements in good standing:

General biology with laboratory (1 year/2 semesters)

General inorganic chemistry with laboratory (1 year/2 semesters)

Organic chemistry with laboratory (1 year/2 semesters)

General physics with laboratory (1 year/2 semesters)

English and English composition (1 semester)

Online coursework will not be accepted, except where coursework was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

All pre-requisite course grades must be passing.

2. Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident of the United States at time of application.

3. Have received their bachelor’s degree from an accredited U.S. or Canadian institution prior to matriculation.

4. The student must complete all required criminal background checks and drug screens. Once a student is accepted to Geisinger Commonwealth, Certiphi Screening Inc. will contact the student via email about the criminal background check process. The following checks are required by July 1 of the matriculating year: Criminal Background Check, Child Abuse History, Pennsylvania Access to Criminal History and FBI fingerprinting. Furthermore, applicants accepted to Geisinger Commonwealth must submit a satisfactorily complete a drug screening prior to matriculation and within the timeframe designated by the Office of Admissions. Geisinger Commonwealth’s Policy on Criminal Background Check and Drug Screening can be found here: go.geisinger.edu/backgrounddrugscreening.

5. Any legal or academic actions taken against the student from the time of application submission to AMCAS and matriculation at Geisinger Commonwealth must be reported to the Admissions Office at Geisinger Commonwealth by the student.

6. The student’s attendance at Geisinger Commonwealth’s orientation program is mandatory.

7. The student must meet Geisinger Commonwealth’s Technical Standards with or without a reasonable accommodation. Any student with a disability must provide medical documentation detailing the disability and the type of accommodation needed to meet Geisinger Commonwealth’s Technical Standards. Depending on the need for the accommodation, the Accessibilities Committee will review the information supplied by the student to determine their ability to meet the Geisinger Commonwealth’s Technical Standards with reasonable accommodations.

It is the student’s responsibility to ensure they have met all of the above requirements. Failure to do so may result in the rescinding of the admission offer.

Application process

Students interested in applying to Geisinger Commonwealth’s MD program should:

1. Complete an application through the online American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS), the national application for U.S. MD programs.

• AMCAS application completion includes an application fee and all supporting documents as requested.

• Geisinger Commonwealth will only consider verified AMCAS applications (incomplete applications will not be reviewed).

2. Submit letters of recommendation via AMCAS Letters.

• All applicants are required to submit one pre-professional/pre-health/committee letter or three evaluation/recommendation letters from faculty who are familiar with the applicant’s career goals and academic coursework.

• The admissions committee will consider additional letters that highlight and support facets of an applicant’s application portfolio not previously addressed and are submitted via the AMCAS Letter Service.

• For non-traditional students, the admissions committee will consider letters of recommendation written by individuals who have firsthand knowledge of the candidate’s strengths, work ethic, abilities and commitment to the field of medicine.

3. Complete the Geisinger Commonwealth Secondary Application.

• All AMCAS verified applicants will automatically receive a secondary application.

• Application fee is $100.

• Candidates in receipt of an AMCAS Fee Assistance Program (FAP) waiver may submit a PDF copy of the form to: mdadmissions@geisinger.edu.

4. Take the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) PREview™ Professional Readiness Exam.

• Geisinger Commonwealth is strongly encouraging applicants to take the AAMC PREview™ exam. We will consider scores as one part of our admissions process.

Interviewing

After a review of the application materials, students are notified if they have been offered an interview for the MD program. All candidates will interview using the Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) format.

Contact us

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine

Geisinger College of Health Sciences

525 Pine Street, Scranton, PA 18509 Call: 570-504-9068

Text: 570-904-2084

mdadmissions@geisinger.edu

geisinger.edu/gcsom

MD Class of 2027

New student profile - 115 students

Pennsylvania residents: 65%

Geisinger Commonwealth counties: 29% 5% from rural counties

15%

First in their families to graduate college

Average undergraduate GPA: 3.79

Average undergraduate science GPA: 3.74

Average undergraduate all other GPA:

3.87

Another gender identity 1.7%

Men 44.3% Women 54%

Average MCAT: 511 81st percentile ( )

19% come from disadvantaged backgrounds 12% come from communities underrepresented in medicine

23

average age (Ranges from 21 to 32)

32% are E01/E02 status (AAMC Socioeconomic Status Indicators)