Med students volunteer in city

Second-year Medical School student Brooke Herndon expects to someday prescribe medicine to her patients. But this summer, Herndon learned that people often need more basic help -- like aerobics. Herndon was one of 18 then-first-year Med students working this summer in various health clinics, soup kitchens and public schools in a program designed to get them to experience medicine outside of the classroom. Herndon interned at Mantua Hall, a federally sponsored housing project. She helped to organize a weekly "Health Night" and presented current health issues including AIDS, nutrition and cardiovascular maintenance to residents. She said her original goal was to set up a peer-based intervention program where children could learn about health care and then teach their friends what they had learned. But Herndon noted that her focus switched when she saw that what people needed was a chance to relax and to interact socially with other people. Yvonne O'Neill, the Tenant Council president, taught her that "the number one health threat is stress." As a result, Herndon worked in setting up activities like aerobics, in addition to the more health-oriented programs such as blood pressure screenings. "People have to want you to be there," she said. Students involved in the Community Health Group Summer Internship Program earned $2500 each for eight weeks. The program was financed with a three year $300,000 grant from public and private sources. They worked a full work week at their internships and met once a week as a whole group to discuss their work. Second-year Med student Micah Rosenfield participated in the internship program and is currently the Co-coordinator of the program. He said the program was a success in "providing service for the community while enabling them [the students] to get a fresh outlook on their community." "This is the last free time Med students have before they work at the hospitals, so it's important to show them where they can get involved," said Rosenfield. First-year Med students interested in participating in the project sent in applications and were matched up with institutions which paralleled their areas of interest. Med student Dave Kragenow worked to create a health clinic in a soup kitchen. He recruited other students and doctors to help administer blood pressure tests, AIDS screenings, and general health examinations for people who could not otherwise afford them. The concept for the internship program was the brainchild of third-year Med students Cindy Weinbaum and Steve Chapman. They worked to develop the program with Don Schwartz, a pediatrician at the Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania, Tony Rostain, a pediatric psychiatrist at the Philadelphia Child Guidance Center, and Jeanne Ann Grisso, an internist/epidemiologist at HUP. Second-year Med student Abby Letcher, the Co-coordinator of the program, emphasized that the students were to be active participants rather than casual observers. "We didn't want students just watching or doing scut work -- we wanted them to have their own projects," she said. Letcher said program directors hope to expand the program to include students from other medical schools. This year, the interns included two students from the Medical College of Pennsylvania. Next summer, two students from Temple University will join, and it is hoped that the program will be extended to several nearby medical schools. The other long-term goal is to make part of the program institutionalized by the Med School. "Third- and fourth-year students could work in the community instead of only in the hospital," Letcher said. Med student Micah Rosenfield is compiling a report based on the epidemiological data which the students collected over the course of the summer. The report, entitled "The West Philadelphia Report: Bridging the Gaps," will be released to the public at a November 1 symposium. The symposium will include a poster session and discussion groups with community leaders, public health officials, and corporate sponsors. "The report will deal with the gaps in health care which exist among the different agencies which are out there," Rosenfield said. "How do we make health care an issue for someone who doesn't know where their next meal is coming from? These are issues which people have to face everyday." The report will address such topics as "Managing Health Care in a Chaotic Lifestyle."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.