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Special Study and Research Experiences
Medical students may elect to undertake special educational experiences to test or further develop their interests in particular fields of study.
Certificate Programs
In addition to the formal dual degree programs, the Perelman School of Medicine offers a series of certificate programs that allow students to customize their medical education and identify a focused area of interest. All of the certificate programs can be earned within the four-year medical school curriculum and arranged with minimal extra cost to the student. The medical school transcript will reflect the completion of the certificate program recognizing the student's accomplishment in a specific area of interest. All certificate programs involve attendance at seminars/courses, an internship or capstone experience, and scholarly activity/research.
Certificate In Community Health: Bridging The Gaps
This program links the training of health and social service professionals with the provision of health-related services to underserved communities. Additional information can be obtained at: www.bridgingthegaps.info
Certificate In Community Health: Sayre Project
This certificate program integrates collaborative care and learning with health education and community service projects. A web site for this program is under development. In the meantime, further information can be obtained by contacting Dr. Katherine Margo at margok@uphs.upenn.edu
Certificate In Women's Health
This certificate program provides concentrated experiences in women's health, spanning research, clinical training, and community outreach. Additional information can be obtained at: www.focusprogram.org
Certificate In Global Health
This certificate program provides students with an in-depth exploration of global health issues through international experiences, coursework and research. Additional information can be found at: www.med.upenn.edu/globalhealth
certificate in clinical neuroscience
The goal of the CNST is to train clinical neuroscience specialists who will participate at the forefront of clinical and academic practice, and disease oriented research. The program combines curricular enrichment in the neurosciences, mentoring, special extracurricular activities and research opportunities within the four-year medical school structure. Additional information can be found at:http://www.med.upenn.edu/ins/cnst.html
Certificate In Law
This certificate program gives medical students opportunities to immerse themselves in legal issues related to legal issues in their areas of academic interest, to gain a better understanding of legal approaches and perspectives, and to engage in legal research. Additional information can be found at: www.law.upenn.edu/registrar/certificates/ phdandmdcandidates.html
Global Health Programs
The Office of Global Health Programs coordinates the School's global health activities and the international aspects of research, education and service programs. The office provides opportunities for students to expand their education both within and outside of the classroom in the international environment.
The Global Health Office provides classroom learning in the form of seminars and electives. There is also a Global Health Interest Group for students who are interested in health care issues worldwide. As part of its educational mission, the office is launching the Global Health Certificate Program as well as the Framework for Global Health, a one-year program open to medical students and all graduate students within the University.
The office also hosts international medical students at Penn and recruits postdoctoral fellows who come from international institutions. Within the Philadelphia area, students are actively engaged in two projects: Puentes de Salud, which serves a Latino immigrant population in South Philadelphia, and Language Link, a medical interpreter service at Pennsylvania Hospital.
International field experiences are also available, with 120 students participating in 2006. The Global Health Office assists with funding. Two-thirds of the students went to developing countries such as Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Dominican Republic, Trinidad, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, India and Pakistan. A smaller number travelled to industrialized nations such as Israel, Japan, Taiwan, Austria, England, France, Netherlands, Russia, Switzerland and Australia. These field experiences often include research, patient care, and public health projects.
For further details about the office and its programs, please refer to: www.med.upenn.edu/globalhealth.
Longitudinal Experience To Appreciate Patient Perspectives (LEAPP)
As part of our commitment to humanism and professionalism, the LEAPP program provides early clinical experience for students, as well as an opportunity to learn how patients and their families deal with chronic disease. First-year medical students are assigned in pairs to patients with chronic illnesses and then follow the patients and their families for three years. Faculty preceptors help LEAPP students to integrate this clinical experience with other courses in the curriculum. Students are required to meet their patients and preceptors face-to-face at least once per semester. However, students generally meet more often with their patients and are informed when health care procedures and visits are scheduled. An annual home visit is also a part of this program. Students come to see how chronic illness affects patients, their lives, work and families.
Page Updated: 21-Jun-2011
