A year from now, Mount Nittany Medical Center will open its doors for the first time to six residents in family medicine.

The program, titled the Penn State Hershey Family Medicine Residency at Mount Nittany, is a three-year residency program in family medicine and will begin next spring.

Housed at the medical center, the program will be run through the University Park Regional Campus of Penn State College of Medicine , and will be the first residency of any kind in the State College area, Dr. Joesph Wiedemer, program director of the family medicine residency, said.

This program covers a wide breadth of care including prevention, immunization, diagnosis, communication and treatment of disease. Wiedemer said they considered many options before deciding on family medicine because of the lack of family physicians in the United States.

Wiedemer said the nation will need 47,000 more family physicians by 2020, according to the Institute of Medicine.

Mike Henry, Class of 2013, who will be attending medical school at Columbia University next fall, said via email he recognized the shortage and that the program will be beneficial for the hospital and the nations health care system.

In order to enhance health care beyond State College, Wiedemer said one of the main goals is to care for patients in the surrounding rural areas.

The hope is some of the students, about one half, will stay in this region and the others will go to areas that are underdeveloped, Wiedemer said.

For members of the State College community, keeping physicians in the area could greatly improve the quality of care.

Celeste Newcomb, professor of health policy and administration , said the program illustrates a positive investment toward consumer access.

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Mount Nitany Medical Center to House the First Residency Program in the State College Area