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September 9, 2009
By Kathleen Reeves, MD, Associate Dean for Student Affairs,
Gerald Sterling, PhD, Senior Associate Dean for Education, and
Giselle Zayon, Director of Alumni Relations
On behalf of Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), Chris Baumert, class of 2011, received an alumni grant to revitalize "Sun Circle Garden," in N. Philadelphia. Chris worked with fellow student and PSR officer Jennie Johnson and other volunteers from PSR, the community, and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society to clean the site. Then, as part of a Bridging the Gaps internship, Jennie worked with Temple medical, nursing, and pharmacy students to help local youths plant vegetables and learn about nutrition. "The support of Temple medical alumni and PSR has been invaluable," says Chris. "They've helped us address preventive health care in a place where it is sorely needed."
Service. It’s been inseparable from the teaching and learning of medicine since Temple’s earliest days.
We continue to attract students and faculty eager to make a real difference in the health of individuals and communities, near and far.
“Temple isn’t just about making great doctors; it’s about developing great people who serve their communities,” says Neil Rellosa, MD ’06, a pediatric infectious diseases fellow at the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC. “You see this from class to class, from generation to generation. Temple people make a difference.”
While the teaching and learning of medicine through the provision of service has long been part of the modus operandi of many schools of medicine, “service learning” is now formalized in the national standards for medical education set by the Liaison Committee for Medical Education (LCME).
The LCME defines service-learning as a structured learning experience that combines community service with preparation and reflection.
The standards call for students to engage in service-learning in response to community-identified concerns. The point is for students to learn about the context in which the service is provided and to connect service with their roles as medical professionals.
“What makes the experience meaningful is the reciprocal benefit,” says Dr. Rellosa. “The people you are serving are also your teachers. Everyone is part of the learning experience.”
The LCME expects medical schools to make “sufficient opportunities” for service learning available to students and to encourage and support their participation.
This is not a problem at Temple. In fact, the variety of service opportunities is almost overwhelming. We have more than 25 student- run organizations that offer service components. At any given time, about 75% of our medical students are participating in one form of service or more.
Most importantly, the major thrust for student participation comes from the students themselves. As faculty we merely encourage, facilitate, and oversee.
“The service ethic that pervades the student body is a very prominent component of the culture,” says Stella Luo, MD ’07, who is now a resident in ophthalmology at Temple. “The opportunities for service learning are a major reason many students come to Temple,” she says.
The services provided by students help define what Temple really is--a family of generous people who work above and beyond to positively influence the lives of others. Year after year, we watch with pride as students organize blood drives, clothing drives, and tournaments to raise funds for people in need.
Service In School and Out
A unique aspect of service learning at Temple is that in addition to offering volunteer opportunities for service learning, we build it into our curriculum as well, in both required courses and electives. In fact, the LCME commended us for our service-rich culture last spring.
The Bridging the Gaps Community Health Internship Program (BTG CHIP) is a good example of a curricular opportunity. About 20 medical students yearly take advantage of this 7-week service learning experience between their first and second years, partnering with community agencies that work with youth, the elderly, the homeless, and those afflicted with HIV/AIDS.
The Temple Emergency Action Corps (TEAC) is another example. Initiated by students and supported by a grant from a foundation with ties to an alumnus, William Greenfield, MD’69, TEAC provides students an educational foundation in disaster response. Students first take two sequential electives that teach the basics of emergency response and medical care (delivering vaccinations, assessing dehydration, etc.). Once they have completed these electives, students are then eligible to take part in a funded trip to an area that recently sustained a natural disaster. In 2008, TEAC traveled to Bolivia in response to extensive flooding. After completion of the trip, students present their experiences to faculty, other students and members from the funding foundation.
Other curricular options include electives connected with service work in HIV prevention, hospice care, and drug rehabilitation. SNACwell (Student Nutrition Advocacy & Community Wellness) is another wonderful example. This elective enables students to learn about the health issues surrounding nutrition and the food industry affecting inner-city communities. The outreach portion of this program is held in conjunction with AmeriCorps for the benefit of students at a North Philadelphia elementary school.
Support for Service
Many of Temple’s service-learning opportunities, both curricular and volunteer, are financially supported by stipends, foundation grants, and donations from TUSM’s generous alumni.
Through its annual student service grant program, Temple’s Alumni Association Board of Directors plays a crucial role in promoting service learning.
In 2008 when he was a fourth-year student, Bradley Hayward, MD ’09, a resident in Internal Medicine at Temple, traveled to India with a group of students with funding from the Alumni Board members. Dr. Hayward and other students worked alongside Indian healthcare workers to deliver vaccines, medications and educate children about healthy nutrition and HIV/AIDS.
“We witnessed first-hand the stark realities of poverty, illiteracy, disease and their devastating effects,” he said.
Hundreds of TUSM students have engaged in service projects, near and far, with funding from the Board.
Lessons in Reflection
Students can reap many benefits through the provision of service. A major focus of the whole “exercise” is to expose students to the contextual issues of health and healthcare.
Health and healthcare are influenced by the patient’s community, culture, expectations, beliefs and mindset. The attitudes and actions of the care provider are also enormous influences.
By developing awareness and understanding of these factors, students learn to extend themselves in ways that are appropriate and effective. It’s a complex world. Such lessons are not easy to learn. Thus, the LCME standards pay homage to the need for service learning to include a reflective component to help students develop and mature.
Reflection can take many forms. Perhaps it’s journaling, or a small group discussion about what service means, how it affects both the patient and the care provider. The Narrative Medicine workshop run by former resident and internist Rosalind Kaplan, MD-Res ’86, is a great vehicle for students to reflect on their own professional and personal development.
Givers are Getters
“Physicians understand that service is a privilege,” says Albert Alley, MD’64, who received a 2009 Alumni Achievement Award from TUSM. An ophthalmologist in central Pennsylvania, Dr. Alley founded World Blindness Outreach, a group that travels to remote locales to treat correctable blindness among the poor all over the world.
“The most valuable compensation a person can get,” he says, “is to give in a meaningful way.”
Temple medical students know this. As members of the faculty and dean’s staff responsible for their education, we feel a bit like their families and friends must feel: extremely proud.
related links
27 Ways to Learn Through Service at TUSM:
1. Join Temple CARES (Community Advocacy, Referral & Education Services), a student-run health clinic that provides care and screens patients in North Philadelphia.
2. Check out TUSM’s Boricua-Latino Health Organization and help organize a bone marrow donor sign up drive in the Latino community of Philadelphia.
3. Help out Al-Shifaa, TUSM’s Muslim student group, which holds a Fast-a-Thon each year during Ramadan that raises thousands of dollars for hunger relief.
4. Be a friend with Big Friends, a tutoring/ mentoring program led by medical students for the children of Kenderton Elementary school, in the medical school’s back yard.
5. Accompany TUSM’s Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association to a clinic to give flu shots at a local Hindi Temple.
6. Join TUSM’s Community Service Outreach group, which coordinates a host of community/hospital service projects and a yearly health fair for children.
7. Help out student members of Physicians for Social Responsibility, who do everything from lobbying for gun control to building low-income housing.
8. Join the Pediatric Interest Group, which runs a reading program for pediatric patients, and hosts Alex’s Lemonade Stand events to benefit pediatric cancer research.
9. Volunteer with TUSM student members of Prevention Point/Street Side Health Clinic and conducts sterile syringe exchanges for IV drug abusers.
10. Accompany the Temple Musicians in Medicine group, which holds an annual concert to benefit ALS research.
11. Hang out with TUSM’s Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual People in Medicine and volunteer on Friday nights at a community outreach center that provides STD testing and referrals.
12. Cut off your hair for Locks of Love (benefitting patients with hair loss from illness) with the members of TUSM’s American Medical Women’s Association.
13. Plan a medical mission with TUSM’s International Health Organization.
14. Ride with the Temple University Emergency Medical System, a bike-based EMS response group serving Temple’s main campus.
15. Join Voices, a Spanish language group that offers interpreter service at Temple University Hospital.
And there's more:
16. American Medical Student Association
17. Babcock Surgical Society
18. Emergency Medicine Interest Group
19. Family Medicine Interest Group
20. Internal Medicine Interest Group
21. Jewish Student Union
22. Orthopedic Interest Group
23. Student Nutrition Advocacy & Community Wellness
24. South Asian Health Student Organization
25. Student National Medical Association
26. Students Interested in Ob-Gyn
27. Students Interested in Psychiatry
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