Northeastern Pennsylvania is enriched by the many educational institutions that prepare generation after generation to join the workforce. But you might be surprised to learn that one of the region’s leading employers is also one of its most prominent educators – St. Luke’s University Health Network. St. Luke’s educational programs include the region’s only four-year medical school and one of the nation’s original, continuously-operating nursing schools.

As the preeminent teaching hospital in Central-Eastern Pennsylvania, St. Luke’s is committed to educating primary care physicians, physician specialists and nurses. It also provides clinical training programs for many other health care professionals. St. Luke’s efforts ensure the area will have access to high-quality health care services despite national shortages of health care providers.

St. Luke’s Rural Medicine Program

Among St. Luke’s many graduate education programs are the St. Luke’s Family Medicine Rural Residency and St. Luke’s Psychiatry Rural Residency, which prepare physicians to practice in small-town settings, strengthening rural communities. The program focuses on preventive, integrated, and chronic care management, such as diabetes, hypertension, COPD and heart disease. Residents see patients at the St. Luke’s Rural Health Centers in Ringtown and Hometown and visit Pottsville’s homeless and domestic violence shelters.

Several Family Medicine graduates have already signed on for employment at St Luke’s. The three-year program accepts four new physician residents yearly. With many local physicians nearing retirement, the program aims to train competent, caring physicians to take their place.

Other Medical Education Residencies and Fellowships

St. Luke’s continuously expands its post-graduate residency and fellowship training programs, offering specialty medical education programs in Clinical Neurophysiology, Dermatology, Endocrinology, Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, Gynecologic Oncology, Hematology/Oncology, Internal Medicine, Neurology, OB/GYN, Otolaryngology, General Surgery, Pain Medicine, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Radiology, Sleep Medicine, Transitional Year, Vascular Neurology and many more areas.

On June 16, St. Luke’s University Health Network celebrated the graduation of interns, residents and fellows who have completed specialty training through residencies and fellowships. Of these, 62 physicians will remain with St. Luke’s. Today, over 470 residents and fellows are enrolled in 49 accredited programs, increasing from 22 in fiscal year 2018. By 2027, St Luke’s will be training more than 550 residents and fellows in 50+ accredited programs.

St. Luke’s Anderson Campus is home to most of the network’s residencies and fellowships growth.

Temple/St. Luke Medical School

The Temple/St. Luke’s Medical School is a central part of St. Luke’s mission to train the next generation of physicians who will serve the Lehigh Valley. With a small class size, Temple/St. Luke’s offers a distinctive educational opportunity, high in quality yet intimate and personalized.

Beginning in 2006, Temple/St. Luke Medical School has worked collaboratively and in affiliation with Temple’s Lewis Katz School of Medicine in Philadelphia. Since 2020, students may choose to complete all four years of schooling at St. Luke’s Bethlehem, making it the Lehigh Valley’s only four-year medical campus.

Temple/St. Luke Medical School currently provides education to 300 medical students annually. On May 5, 30 Temple/St. Luke’s School of Medicine students graduated at a ceremony at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, of which 17 graduates will continue their education at St. Luke’s for residency.

St. Luke’s School of Nursing

St. Luke’s School of Nursing – the nation’s longest continuously operating nursing school – graduated 79 students in August and has a total enrollment of 325. The 20-month accelerated program features 900 hours of clinical experience within St. Luke’s University Health Network and other local acute care, chronic care and community agencies. The school offers traditional day, and evening and weekend programs – ideal for students who work or care for children or aging parents during the day.

St. Luke’s University Health Networks typically hires approximately 80% of nursing students upon graduation.

Other Health Care Professionals

Hundreds of other students from more than 80 colleges, universities and technical institutes complete clinical training rotations and practicums in health care settings within the network.

For example, each year, St. Luke’s provides clinical experiences for approximately 300 advanced practice students, such as nurse practitioners, physician assistants and nurse anesthetists.