A number of resources and tools are available to the residents and fellows in the ACGME-accredited programs of Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. Residents and fellows in other programs should contact their program directors and coordinators for details on resources available to them.
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Information for Current Residents
Reporting a Concern
The Mistreatment Reporting Form is a confidential way to report a concern. You can choose to identify yourself or to remain anonymous. We ask that you provide as much detail of the incident or pattern of behavior as possible to assist us in investigating your concerns.
Whether you elect to identify yourself or not, please understand that we will investigate and follow up each report of mistreatment in a comprehensive fashion while maintaining your confidentiality.
We appreciate your time and effort in helping us achieve the highest degree of respect in our everyday interactions. We are firmly committed to providing a clinical learning environment that allows each learner to reach the milestones necessary in their training to become a competent, compassionate physician.
Learn more about Office for a Respectful Learning Environment.
See Policy PSCOM-100 in the policy portal (internal access only; login required)
Maintaining a culture of respect in our clinical learning environment is a core value of Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. With input from our trainees, as well as faculty, nursing staff, medical students and others, we have developed a set of expected behaviors in our professional interactions. We also have provided examples of behaviors that we believe are not conducive to a productive educational experience.
As you interact with others during your training, you may witness or experience behaviors that are suboptimal. If you believe that an encounter violates our core values for a respectful working environment or if you feel that you or others have been the object of mistreatment in the clinical or non-clinical settings, we would like you to help us to address these concerns in the appropriate fashion.
There are many opportunities for you to do so, including discussions with:
- the individual that you believe has been the source of disrespect or mistreatment
- your Program Director or others in your Program’s administration
- the Department Chair or Associate Chair responsible for education within the department
- your mentor(s)
- the Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education
- the DIO or the Associate DIO
- the GME ombudsmen
See contact information for these people
Types of Mistreatment
Several types of behavior constitute mistreatment. Learn more about different types of mistreatment here.
ACGME Core Competencies is a series of educational presentations recorded at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and available for viewing online.
The series is designed for resident and attending physicians of Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. Participation should take approximately one hour per presentation. Many of the sessions include topics in patient safety/risk management as required by the Pennsylvania State Board of Medicine. These will be marked by the asterisk.
To complete this activity and receive credit, the participant should:
- Read the session learning objectives
- View the presentation
- Complete an online evaluation form
Please contact the Office of Graduate Medical Education at gme@pennstatehealth.psu.edu with questions.
Lecture Dates and Topics
ACGME Core Competencies
- Patient Care: Resident must provide care that is compassionate, appropriate, and effective in the treatment of health problems and the promotion of health.
- Medical Knowledge: Residents must demonstrate knowledge about established and evolving biomedical, clinical, and cognate (e.g. epidemiological and social-behavioral) sciences and the application of this knowledge to patient care.
- Practice-based Learning and Improvement: Residents must be able to investigate and evaluate their patient care practices, appraise and assimilate scientific evidence, and improve their patient care practices.
- Interpersonal and Communication Skills: Learn to provide effective information exchange and teaming with patients, their families, and professional associates.
- Professionalism: Residents must demonstrate a commitment to carrying out professional responsibilities, adherence to ethical principles, and sensitivity to a diverse patient population.
- Systems-based Practice: Residents must demonstrate an awareness of and responsiveness to the larger context and system of health care and the ability to effectively call on system resources to provide care that is of optimal value.
Resident Council
Resident Council is held quarterly. For details on meeting dates and times, contact the Office of Graduate Medical Education at gme@pennstatehealth.psu.edu.
ACGME Institutional Requirement II.C.
The Sponsoring Institution must ensure availability of an organization, council, town hall, or other platform that allows residents/fellows from across the Sponsoring Institution’s ACGME-accredited programs to communicate and exchange information with each other relevant to their ACGME-accredited programs and their learning and working environment. Any resident/fellow from one of the Sponsoring Institution’s ACGME-accredited programs must have the opportunity to raise concern to the forum. Residents/fellows must have the options, at least in part, to conduct their forum without the DIO, faculty members, or other administrators present.
Non-assigned call rooms are located in the BMR building, Room C1827, and the sixth floor of the main hospital, Room H6150 & H6311. Please contact the Office of Graduate Medical Education at 717-531-0003 ext. 321668 for the access code.
If a resident is unable to safely drive home due to sleep deprivation, the Office of Graduate Medical Education will reimburse residents for Uber, Lyft, etc. with a valid receipt. Please refer to the Transportation Reimbursement for Fatigued Residents and Fellows policy for additional details.
The annual Resident/Fellow Research Day is held each spring at University Conference Center on the Penn State Health Milton S. Medical Center campus in Hershey, Pa.
The intent of the event is to provide an opportunity for residents and fellows to showcase their research accomplishments to their peers in other clinical departments, as well as their colleagues in the basic sciences.
Penn State College of Medicine and Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center are committed to becoming a destination for physician-scientists at all career stages by creating a nurturing community and infrastructure that fosters collaborations across all disciplines, prepares our trainees for a sustainable research career, and forges a sustainable physician-scientist career development pipeline.
In September 2016, the Penn State Physician-Scientist Training Program (PSTP) Task Force was formed and charged with the mission to break down departmental/divisional silos and create an institution-wide program for physician-scientists that starts at the trainee level.
The training program is tailored for residents and fellows who are interested in making research a significant part of their career, and also includes MD students, MD/PhD students, research staff and junior faculty.
The ability to become a good educator as well as a good clinician is a hallmark of Penn State Health/Penn State College of Medicine’s graduate medical education programs.
In partnership with the Woodward Center for Excellence in Health Sciences Education and the Office for a Respectful Learning Environment, the Office of Graduate Medical Education makes available a number of training and recognition opportunities in the area of education.
Partners in Medicine is a support and social group for spouses of medical students, residents, fellows and new attending physicians at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.
Institutional Resources
Penn State Health and Penn State College of Medicine celebrate, embrace and support the diversity of all patients, faculty, staff, students and trainees.
Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
In keeping with this, Penn State Health has an active Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion with various programs, networks and resource groups, including:
- Talks and lectures on diversity, equity and inclusion through the Inclusion Academy
- Regular events on topics such as eradicating racism and creating a culture of inclusiveness
- Many Business Employee Resource Groups (BERGs), including:
- Disability Business Employee Resource Group
- Interfaith Business Employee Resource Group
- LGBTQ+ Business Employee Resource Group
- Military and Veterans Business Employee Resource Group
- Multicultural Business Employee Resource Group
- NextGen Business Employee Resource Group
- Black Physician Professional Staff Association – Resource Group
- Hispanic Professional Association
- Asian Physician and Professional Staff Association
- International Workforce Inclusion
- Inclusion Academy
Learn more about the Penn State Health Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Learn more about the College of Medicine’s Office for Diversity, Equity and Belonging
Office for Culturally Responsive Health Care Education
The vision at Penn State College of Medicine and Penn State Health is to equip learners with the knowledge, skills and attitudes they will need to provide culturally excellent health care and research for an increasingly diverse U.S. population. The Office for Culturally Responsive Health Care Education was formed to help meet that goal.
Learn more about the Office for Culturally Responsive Health Care Education
Office for a Respectful Learning Environment
In addition, the institution does not tolerate discrimination, biases, microaggression, harassment or learner mistreatment of any kind, and any concerns are immediately addressed by the Office for a Respectful Learning Environment.
Learn more about the Office for a Respectful Learning Environment
Network of Under-represented Residents and Fellows
The Network of Under-represented Residents and Fellows (NURF) is a group of diverse residents and fellows representing all specialties. NURF’s goal is to promote cultural diversity in the residency programs through community involvement, mentorship with diverse faculty, professional networking and support for the recruitment of diverse medical students into the residency programs.
NURF is sponsored by the Penn State College of Medicine Graduate Medical Education Office and the Penn State Health Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
The Network of Under-represented Residents and Fellows (NURF) is a group of diverse residents and fellows representing all specialties. NURF’s goal is to promote cultural diversity in the residency programs through community involvement, mentorship with diverse faculty, professional networking and support for the recruitment of diverse medical students into the residency programs.
NURF is sponsored by the Penn State College of Medicine Graduate Medical Education Office and the Penn State Health Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.