The College of Medicine
Overview
Drexel University College of Medicine is the consolidation of two venerable medical schools with rich and intertwined histories: Hahnemann Medical College and Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania. Established in 1848 and 1850, respectively, they were two of the earliest medical colleges in the United States, and Woman’s was the first degree-granting medical school in the world for women.
Drexel University College of Medicine has more than 1,100 medical students. Additionally, there are over 900 graduate students enrolled in the College of Medicine’s Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Professional Studies. The College’s more than 2,500 faculty expertly teach across our local campuses and the many regional and academic medical campuses where clerkship years and research training occur.
Drexel University College of Medicine strives for a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment and encourages nontraditional applicants to apply. The College seeks highly qualified and motivated students who demonstrate the desire, intelligence and integrity to become excellent physicians and scientists.
About the College of Medicine
Mission Statement
Drexel University College of Medicine excels and innovates in education, research and the delivery of compassionate care in our culture of diversity, spirited inquiry, collaboration and opportunity.
About the College
Drexel University College of Medicine strives for a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment and encourages nontraditional applicants to apply. The College seeks highly qualified and motivated students who demonstrate the desire, intelligence and integrity to become excellent physicians and scientists.
The College of Medicine has campuses in the Philadelphia region for our first- and second-year medical students and graduate students in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Professional Studies. In 2023, the Health Sciences Building on the University City Campus opened in phases, bringing together all of Drexel's health-related fields of study in one modern space. The College's long-standing Queen Lane Campus is in a suburban-like setting in the East Falls section of Philadelphia and has renowned basic science research laboratories. Additional research facilities are located at the Center City Campus. Our pediatrics department is located at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, which is owned and operated in partnership with Tower Health and Drexel University. Medical students can receive clinical education at over 20 affiliated hospitals and ambulatory sites chosen for commitment to teaching as well as medical excellence. The College of Medicine at Tower Health is a regional medical campus near Reading Hospital, where medical students study and complete clerkship training for all four years.
Renowned for its innovative, student-centered programs, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Professional Studies at Drexel University College of Medicine provides PhD and master's level academic offerings that emphasize real-world experience. Our graduate students are mentored by and work in partnership with world-renowned faculty.
The College has established one of the largest centers for spinal cord research in the mid-Atlantic region and founded one of the leading centers for malaria study in the nation. Collaborative projects leveraging Drexel University's technological expertise push the frontiers of cell and gene therapy, neuroscience and neuroengineering.
Drexel is designated as an "R1 Doctoral University: Very High Research Activity" in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education and is one of 146 institutions out of approximately 3,900 to receive this prestigious classification, indicating the highest level of research activity. The College of Medicine is proud of its internationally recognized research programs conducted by our basic scientists, and of the many complementary efforts in clinical science and clinical care conducted by our faculty. The College boasts programmatic excellence in fields that include infectious and inflammatory diseases, neuroscience and cancer biology.
Drexel's Partnership Comprehensive Care Practice is the largest HIV treatment office in the greater Philadelphia region. The Drexel Medicine practices provide care to the local community and support the patient care, clinical training and research missions of the College.
Facilities
Drexel University College of Medicine is a living laboratory, giving students a broad variety of hands-on experience, enhanced by clinical rotations in hospitals, practicums and external research opportunities depending on program of study. Students in all programs benefit from the College's campuses, which offer some of the most advanced facilities in biomedical, health sciences and health care education. College of Medicine faculty members are leaders in developing interactive computer-based learning tools, ranging from professional formation, biochemical exercises to simulated patients presenting ethical dilemmas. A comprehensive curriculum website, streaming lectures and online slide atlases for histology and pathology are all available.
Some of the College's key facilities and their features include:
Medical Simulation Centers
The College has state-of-the-art simulation centers for medical education at our campuses in University City in Philadelphia and in West Reading, Pennsylvania. The centers allow students to learn in simulated operating rooms and patient room settings.
Clinical Education Assessment Centers
Examination rooms with digital capture that simulate physicians' offices are linked to control and observation rooms for faculty. Students work with standardized patients to enhance their abilities in medical interviewing, physical examination and patient counseling.
Multidisciplinary Laboratories
A range of research facilities provide support for clinical and basic research activities, interdisciplinary programs to develop and implement research, translational research and mentoring to advance the training of physicians and scientists.
Libraries
The Drexel University Library system serves the needs of students, faculty and staff. The collections emphasize subjects relevant to the health sciences, with extensive online resources to meet the needs of the programs and departments across campuses.
All online resources (databases, electronic journals, etc.) are available to students, faculty and staff who are registered Drexel Library users, and can be accessed from off-campus locations.
The Library staff provides assistance to students and other library users through on-the-spot reference help, mediated literature searches and instructional sessions. Guides are available online to help with the use of Library services and resources.
Web-Based Instruction
Uses of web-based instruction range from providing a supplement to classroom instruction to teaching a whole course remotely. Many instructors post their syllabi on the web, distribute supplementary readings via the web and set up electronic discussion lists for their students. Having students submit assignments electronically is a common practice.
Unique faculty-developed tools, including offerings from the health care communication and professional formation portal, provide web-based video encounters between physician and patient, and help medical students improve their communication skills. Modules on physical exam skills, diagnostic reasoning, symptoms and signs, clinical procedures and other resources are available in the College of Medicine's online clinical skills portal. Medical students have exclusive access to these resources to develop the skills necessary to become physicians in the 21st century.