Invitation to Cover: Incoming Perelman School of Medicine Students Start Medical Careers with a Short White Coat AND an iPad

Nation's Oldest Medical School Equips New Students with Latest Mobile Technology, Replacing 20,000 Sheets of Paper per Student

PHILADELPHIA — On Friday, August 10, 2012, 163 first-year students at Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania will begin their medical careers when they receive their short white coats and start their journey into learning the art and science of healing. However, for the first time in school history, in a nod to the way in which mobile technology is changing both education and the practice of medicine, Penn Medicine will also equip these budding doctors with an Apple iPad 3. The new program represents the latest step in a 15 year technology investment by the School to bring medical curriculum into the digital age, and enables students to have access to a multipurpose learning tool that they will use throughout medical school, in the hospital, with patients, and beyond.

iPad technology adds a new dimension to medical education as the students start their journey with the time honored tradition of the White Coat Ceremony. The devices will replace 20,000 sheets (40 reams) of black-and-white printed class notes per student, serving as both an e-reader and a delivery system for animated, full-color images of the human body, with the capability for real-time updates to the course curriculum.

At the conclusion of the annual White Coat Ceremony, equipped with their short white coats, stethoscopes, and iPads, old and new symbols of medicine, the entire class will recite the Hippocratic Oath, pledging to treat the ill to the best of their abilities, preserve each patient's privacy, and to teach the secrets of medicine to the next generation.

WHERE:	Zellerbach Theatre Annenberg Center University of Pennsylvania 3680 Walnut Street Philadelphia, PA 19104
WHEN:	August 10, 2012
WHO:	Panel participants will include: 3:05 p.m. – J. Larry Jameson, MD, PhD, executive vice president of the University of Pennsylvania for the Health System and dean of the Perelman School of Medicine, presents welcoming remarks. 3:15 PM - Keynote address, Overcoming Paralysis, presented by Cindy W. Christian, MD, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia 3:40 p.m. – White coats presented by Gail Morrison, MD, senior vice dean for Education and director of the Office of Academic Programs, and Stanley Goldfarb, MD, associate dean for Curriculum 4:40 p.m. – Incoming class recites Hippocratic Oath

###

Penn Medicine is one of the world's leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $4.3 billion enterprise.

The Perelman School of Medicine has been ranked among the top five medical schools in the United States for the past 16 years, according to U.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $398 million awarded in the 2012 fiscal year.

The University of Pennsylvania Health System's patient care facilities include: The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania -- recognized as one of the nation's top "Honor Roll" hospitals by U.S. News & World Report; Penn Presbyterian Medical Center; and Pennsylvania Hospital -- the nation's first hospital, founded in 1751. Penn Medicine also includes additional patient care facilities and services throughout the Philadelphia region.

Penn Medicine is committed to improving lives and health through a variety of community-based programs and activities. In fiscal year 2012, Penn Medicine provided $827 million to benefit our community.