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Community Engagement

A Drexel medical student/resident at an AHA CPR event demonstrating CPR to kids.

Students at the College of Medicine regularly work with the Philadelphia community to help improve health care and education. From course work to volunteer opportunities, we integrate meaningful community service and reflective learning to prepare students as community-responsive physicians.

Our students engage with the local and global community by:

  • Volunteering at student-run clinics in Philadelphia
  • Mentoring students from local charter schools
  • Traveling abroad for international rotations
  • Organizing educational programs for the community

Learn more about Community Engagement

Community Outreach Activities & Clubs

CHAMPS

The main mission of the Medical Chapter of Drexel CHAMPS is to utilize interdisciplinary collaboration for the aid of the local Philadelphia community. The current site, for which we focus our efforts, is at the Eliza Shirley House. At this site, we work with the Public Health and Law School Chapters to serve the residents. We help host "Circle Discussions" with the mothers and "Kids Zone" with the children. Both events provide stress relief and educational focused discussions/talks for the health of the residents. Additionally, we help provide resident advocacy services.

Global Public Health

 

Habitat for Humanity Club

College of Medicine's Habitat for Humanity Club

The College of Medicine's newly established Habitat for Humanity Club is working with the Philadelphia chapter of Habitat to renovate the home of a U.S. military veteran in the Germantown neighborhood adjacent to the Queen Lane Campus.

Led by co-presidents Naveen Balan and Srikar Vegesna, both second-year medical students, the club has set a fundraising goal of $10,000 to finance the work, and members have held fundraisers toward that end. With help from many student volunteers, they aim to complete critical repairs to the veteran's home by April 2016. The club welcomes the support of College alumni.

To make a gift, please visit drexel.edu/medicine/giftsonline.

"Habitat for Humanity Club Renovates Veteran's Home" originally appeared in the winter/spring 2016 issue of Pulse Magazine.

Healing Arts

The Healing Arts group does arts and crafts with children at the Ronald McDonald house in West Philadelphia/University City, to work to improve mental health and wellness in the community.

 healingartsducom@gmail.com

Health Career Academy

We are dedicated to the encouragement and education of pre-health, high school students. We work to educate students on common disease processes, healthy living, and awareness of a healthy lifestyle. We encourage students to become active in their own community through assisting them to plan and host their own health fair.

ducomhealthcareeracademy@gmail.com

Health Outreach Project (HOP) Clinics

The Health Outreach Project clinics aim to prepare medical students to be excellent physicians while providing medical care to underserved populations in the Philadelphia area. Through our efforts at the Eliza Shirley, Salvation Army, StreetSide, and Arc clinics, as well as pop-up community events, underserved Philadelphia residents receive free, high quality medical care and other services from 1st and 2nd year medical students.

Jump Into Reading

Jump Into Reading provides Drexel medical students the chance to read to young children once a week throughout the course of the year. The program takes place at the Eliza Shirley House, which is a women's shelter located in Philadelphia. Because these kids are going through a difficult period in their lives, we hope to provide a safe and fun environment for them and hopefully instill in them a lifelong love of reading.

 jumpintoreading@gmail.com

Mothers & Baby Dragons

The Mothers and Baby Dragons program connects underserved pregnant women with Drexel medical students throughout their pregnancy. These women may require additional resources to overcome the realities and dilemmas that they face during their pregnancy - be it physical, emotional, financial, cultural, etc. Drexel students will act as a health navigator for these women by attending prenatal visits, providing needed information and resources to help the mothers, being present for labor and delivery, and continued support postpartum. Students will help mothers work towards a healthy pregnancy by promoting appropriate weight gain, encouraging them to remain active, helping to explain the changes their bodies go through during pregnancy, and creating a plan to deal with things that may be making their pregnancy tougher. During this program, students will experience longitudinal primary care and gain first-hand insight to the daily struggles patients face while having a positive impact on the experience these women have during their pregnancy.

 drexelmbdragons@gmail.com

Promoting Achievement through Learning in Science (P.A.L.S.)

This program for graduate students is designed to expand critical thinking and promote global awareness for inner city middle school youth by exploring the scientific realm of the world. Through hands-on, scientific-based laboratory sessions and classroom sessions, Philadelphia youth will gain an understanding of the world-at-large. Elements of health and medicine are integrated in order to provide an understanding of the relationship between the human body and the world.

Pediatric AIDS Benefit

The Pediatric AIDS Benefit raises money for the Dorothy Mann Center for Pediatric and Adolescent HIV at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children throughout the year with several smaller events, culminating in a large concert in February of each year. Within the past 20 years, we have raised an estimated $500,000 to provide services, including emergency financial support, child-life specialists, dieticians, etc., to children affected by this devastating disease.

PABC@gmail.com

Surgicorps International

Surgicorps International is a medical mission organization with a purpose to provide medical and surgical care to disadvantaged individuals in underdeveloped countries. Having performed over 3,000 surgeries in 16 countries, and cared for even more patients with non-surgical needs, Surgicorps has changed lives all over the world. The purpose of the interest group is to raise awareness about international mission opportunities in medicine and link students to opportunities to get involved with Surgicorps International.

Women's Initiative in Medicine

Women's Initiative in Medicine (WIM) is a female mentorship/health care program where women from the College of Medicine mentor high school girls at North Light community center in Manayunk who have a desire to go into medicine or science. We lead fun health and science activities like teaching CPR and first aid, touring the College of Medicine anatomy lab, taking a trip to the SIM center, visiting the Mutter museum and hosting networking nights.

 ducomwim@gmail.com

 
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