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.