Middle school students can be a tough crowd to impress, but Drexel University College of Medicine community members leading educational courses at Science Leadership Academy Middle School (SLAMS) say that, more than a year into the program, the students are excited and engaged.

The courses include hands-on lessons in health topics from Drexel University health professions community members. In a variety of different sessions, faculty, students and professional staff members from the College of Medicine and the College of Nursing and Health Professions teach educational sessions that fall under one of two core curriculums. “Science of Health,” for fifth and sixth graders, incorporates lessons about health science topics including anatomy, physiology and personal health, and “Go Into Health,” for seventh and eighth graders, includes discussions and demonstrations on a wide variety of health care professions.

One goal of the SLAMS mini-courses is to introduce young Philadelphians to the breadth of health professions and opportunities. Having instructors from the diverse Drexel University community also helps give students who are from communities historically underrepresented in medicine the opportunity to see someone with a similar background succeeding in health professions fields.

“Our hope, our dream, our vision, our ultimate goal is that we can make an impression as we continue to meet them here at SLAMS and potentially follow them through their academic career,” says Annette Gadegbeku, MD, lead faculty overseeing the program. Gadegbeku is associate professor and chief, Division of Community Health in the Department of Family, Community & Preventive Medicine, and senior associate dean of the Office of Community Health and Inclusive Excellence at the College of Medicine. “Then maybe one day some will matriculate into Drexel University’s undergraduate schools and even end up at one of our health professions graduate programs. Over a decade, we would have made an impact and created a pathway that leads to increasing the diversity of the workforce in this area.”

Drexel community members began participating in SLAMS mini-courses shortly after the College of Medicine’s MD program students joined their College of Nursing and Health Professions peers in the Health Sciences Building in fall 2023, when a colleague in Drexel’s School of Education contacted Gadegbeku. The courses continued throughout the 2023-2024 academic year, and the Dornsife School of Public Health has also joined the collaboration.

This summer, the partnership expanded to include a summer camp for SLAMS students, hosted by the Drexel Office of University and Community Partnerships and staffed by volunteers from the same Drexel schools and colleges, plus the College of Engineering. As a professor and an advisor to community engagement-focused student programs, Gadegbeku knows that both the middle schoolers and the Drexel students benefit from the program. “We often hear from medical students that working at SLAMS is a great way to take a break from studying and to do something fun, but that is still health related,” she says. “What’s cool is that as a student, they get to talk about the subjects and skills they have been developing. What better way to reinforce some of what they are learning and that they will be teaching in the future to patients?”

Gadegbeku says other Drexel-based program participants also gain a great deal from participating in the program. In a session called “Food to Fuel,” Kirsten Larson, PhD, professor in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology, taught students about how food is broken down for nutrients and how those nutrients enter the bloodstream. Like Gadegbeku, Larson gave the middle school students a glowing review. “The students were excited and engaged. It was fun teaching young people with so much energy and passion,” Larson says. “Working with these curious and knowledgeable young people who might be sitting in our classes in a few years was very motivating.”

Local alumni who are interested in volunteering for a future SLAMS session should contact Sammy Brink, project coordinator in the Office of Community Engagement, at sb4496@drexel.edu or 215.991.8971.

 
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