Penn State Mont Alto hosts Penn State Health, College of Medicine administrators

MONT ALTO, Pa. — On March 24, Francis Achampong, Penn State Mont Alto’s chancellor, welcomed Drs. Craig Hillemeier and Terry Wolpaw to campus. Hillemeier is dean of the Penn State College of Medicine and chief executive officer of Penn State Hershey Medical Center and Health System. Wolpaw is vice dean for educational affairs and professor of medicine at Penn State College of Medicine. During their visit, Hillemeier and Wolpaw learned about the Mont Alto campus and its academic offerings, discussed possible collaborations, toured the campus with Lion Ambassador and nursing student Kyle Evans, and enjoyed lunch in The Mill.Michael Doncheski, Mont Alto’s chief academic officer, joined the group in the chancellor’s office for a discussion on a wide range of topics from Mont Alto’s campus history to its associate and baccalaureate degree programs, and Penn State’s 2+2 plan that allows students to take their first two years at a Commonwealth Campus and stay to complete their degrees or transition to another Penn State campus, choosing from among 160 majors.Possible collaborations between the College of Medicine and Penn State Mont Alto were explored, including creating greater access for socially and economically diverse Penn State Mont Alto students to the College of Medicine, cooperating with Mont Alto’s allied health programs — occupational therapy, physical therapist assistant, and nursing — and strengthening partnerships with Summit Health.The Mont Alto Campus and Hershey Medical have had a history of collaboration through MedCamp — a popular summer camp that introduces health care fields to ninth- and 10th-graders and takes them on field trips to Penn State Hershey. In addition, Penn State Hershey’s critical care transport “Life Lion” has highlighted both Mont Alto’s Community Health Fair events and annual trauma exercises when nursing and forestry students provide emergency response and health care to iStan — a high-fidelity mannequin.