Center of Excellence for Diversity in Health Education and Research

Programs

• Faculty Development
• Residents & Fellows
• Medical Students
• Pre-Med Summer Enrichment Program
• High School Summer Program – TBA
• Minority Health Research

Faculty Development

The Center of Excellence for Diversity in Health Education and Research seeks to expand the national pool of minority health faculty and to increase the number of under-represented faculty at the University Of Pennsylvania School Of Medicine by providing resources for faculty recruitment and training through the following programs:

COE Faculty Recruitment Program: Components

• Faculty Registries
• Senior Leadership Advisory Group
• Salary Support of Minority Faculty Scholars
• Recruitment Materials
  

COE Faculty Development Program: Components

• Faculty General Career Counseling Meetings
• Resource Guide for Minority Faculty
• Minority Faculty Database and Tracking
• Minority Faculty Mentoring Committee
• Workshops (Medical Presentation Skills, Scientific Writing Skills, and Research Grant Writing)
• Research Funds – pilot projects
• Biostatistics and Epidemiology Consultation Service
  

Other: COE Minority Faculty Recruitment and Development Efforts

• Published two articles in Academic Medicine on faculty recruitment and retention
• Distributed COE newsletters focusing on diversity and multiculturalism in healthcare, education, and research
• Established a consortium model of minority facutly development, the Northeast Consortium for Minority Faculty Development, a partnership (funded 2006 - 2010 by a grant from the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation).

Residents and Fellows

The Center of Excellence considers faculty development activities during residency and in particular during fellowship training critically important to efforts to increase the number of under-represented faculty nationwide. The Center demonstrates this priority in many ways. Not only are there multiple minority fellowship grants available to those who join Penn's community, but also the University's School of Medicine and the Center of Excellence make many opportunities available. The Center provides multiple programs designed to improve the health of its surrounding community and also to recruit students, residents, fellows, and faculty and to involve them in research and clinical care, and teaching.

Minority Residents and Fellows Identification Plan

Currently the Center is developing a registry of under-represented residents and fellows in the Philadelphia area. Because fellows usually represent the level of training prior to faculty appointment, the Center is developing this program to establish and maintain contact with these fellows throughout their training.

Training Opportunities for Residents and Fellows

• Biological Science Research Training
• Clinical Epidemiology/Health Services Research Training Programs
• Fellowships in all Clinical Departments and Divisions
• Minority International Research Training Program
• Clinical Investigator Graduate Degree Program

Research Services for Residents and Fellows

• Funding support for senior fellows
• Methodological assistance

Medical Students

The University Of Pennsylvania Center of Excellence for Diversity in Health Education and Research, under the direction of Jerry C. Johnson M.D., Professor of Medicine, is a resource for under-represented medical students and faculty who aspire to leadership positions in academic in health care policy/management. Initiated in September 1993, under a grant from the Bureau of Health Professions, Health Resources and Services Administration, Public Health Services, the overall goals of the Center of Excellence are to:

• Prepare undergraduate students for future leadership positions as physicians
• Train under-represented medical students and physicians for positions of leadership
• Recruit, train, and maintain under-represented physicians for faculty positions
• Develop and evaluate curricula components and materials on minority health
• Enhance the quantity and quality of research focusing on the health of minorities
• Improve the science and math skills of under-represented high school students

How Can the Center Assist Under-Represented Medical Students?

• Networking: Informal meetings will be held to facilitate camaraderie among under-represented students, faculty, residents, and fellows to discuss topics of interest among the group. You are encouraged to participate in these meetings.
• Workshops/Seminars: The Center has annual workshops and seminars to help and assist with grant writing, professional presentations, and scientific writing. These workshops and seminars are held throughout the year and are free to attend.
• Mentoring Opportunities: Throughout the months of May-July, the Center conducts an intensive 10 week Summer Pre-Med Program for under-represented undergraduates. This program consist of several components including research, lectures, clinical observation, and MCAT preparation. You can be a mentor by allowing a student to shadow you.
• Research Service: The Center provides core research staff in epidemiology and statistics to facilitate research projects dealing with minority health issues, provides funding to support ongoing research on minority health issues. The minority health research activities are designed to enhance the quality and quantity of research focusing on the health of minorities and encourage participation of minorities in planning and conducting minority health research.  Under-represented minority supplemenls are available.
• Medical Student Research Compendium TBA: Under-Represented Minority students will be invited to the faculty scientific writing workshop and given materials on medical presentations, writing, and publishing abstracts and papers. Center staff will assist students prepare abstracts of projects. The research materials and abstracts will be combined in a medical student research compendium to be distributed to each class of under-represented minority students.

    Funding Opportunity  - Due 2/15/2013 Medical%20Student%20Research%20Preceptorship%202013

    Information Flyer - Medical%20Student%20_FLYER

Summer Pre-Med Enrichment Program

The aim of this program is to prepare under-represented minority students for careers in academic medicine or other positions of leadership in medicine. Over a ten-week period, beginning in late May, selected students (usually between 10 and 12 students) who have completed two years of undergraduate education, will be engaged in a program of research, clinical observations, classroom exercises and teaching observation designed to stimulate and cultivate their interest in academic medicine. The students will be exposed to activities pertaining to the medical school application and admissions process, including classroom instruction and simulated testing to prepare the students for the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT).

The program, now in its fourteenth year of operation, is sponsored by the Center of Excellence for Diversity in Health Education and Research of the School of Medicine, with funds provided by the Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Bureau of Health Professions, Behavioral Health and Diversity Branch. Jerry C. Johnson, MD, Professor of Medicine is the Project Director.

For the research component of the program, each student is assigned a medical school faculty mentor with whom the student works 3 days per week in a laboratory or clinical setting. At the end of the program, each student participant writes a three to five page summary of their project; and, each student delivers a 15-minute PowerPoint presentation pertaining to their work before an audience composed of medical school faculty, medical students and other summer program students. In addition, all students are assigned a clinical preceptor whom the student shadows eight (8) hours per week, on an alternating weekly basis.

The lecture series consists of two, 2-hour lectures on alternating weeks. The goal of the lecture series is to:

1. Acquaint the student with some of the subject matter of medical school, and
2. Increase their understanding and appreciation for the art of medicine and health issues of the underserved. Past lecture topics have included: microbiology, physiology, communicating with patients and health care delivery to urban minority communities.

The students will be engaged in several workshops:

1. A medical school admissions workshop designed to guide the students through the medical school admissions process and to prepare the students to complete the AMCAS (American Medical College Application Service) application
2. The students will have over 50 hours of classroom instruction and 40 hours of simulated testing provided by Kaplan Educational Centers to prepare students for the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT).
3. Participating students who successfully complete the program will receive a stipend. In addition, housing and two meals per day (Monday - Friday) are provided at NO COST to participating students.

The application deadline is January 31, 2013. Please note after this date, applications will not be processed.

Forinformation regarding the program please contact:

Tyeshia Kelly - Administrative Coordinator - (215) 898- 3492 Tyeshiak@mail.med.upenn.edu

 FINAL_Brochure%202013(Informational Brochure)

Summer%20Enrichment%20ProgramTK_distributed (Application)