Dear BGS Graduate Students,

On behalf of Dr. Sharon Lewis, we’re writing to invite you to apply to be a Fellow for the IDEAL Experience Program Educational Pipeline Program! If you have an interest in mentoring young people (MS1s, undergrads, and high school students), as well as connecting with faculty and residents for mentorship, you will want to be a part of the Pipeline Program.

Background:

Who: BGS Graduate Students (3^rd year and up)

What: Fellows for the IDEAL Experience Program Virtual Educational Pipeline Program

When: January-April 2022; interviews and planning (independent work and monthly meetings) begin in September 2021

Why: Mentor underserved high school students and get them interested in health sciences

How: Send your CV to Dr. Sharon Lewis (Sharon.Lewis@pennmedicine.upenn.edu) and complete this application by Sept 10 by 5:00pm: https://forms.gle/jn6zqVrcEKuibu5A6

Note: BGS students should review the policies regarding Compensation for Teaching Assistantships and complete the appropriate approval form:

• Job Request Form for BGS students
• Job Request Form for MD-PhD students

What is the Educational Pipeline Program?

The IDEAL Experience Program Educational Pipeline Program is a collaboration between the Perelman School of Medicine, the School of Veterinary Medicine, and the Netter Center for Community Partnerships. The Pipeline Program encourages high school students from backgrounds underrepresented in medicine to aspire to medical careers. A cohort of students is recruited from local high schools by The Netter Center. They will meet one afternoon each week for a 60 to 75-minute lesson. Due to the rapidly evolving changes due to the pandemic, it has not been decided yet if the Spring pipeline teaching will take place virtually or in person. Physicians—faculty members, residents, and fellows—also participate in the program, overseeing the development of clinical cases that are the foundation of the curriculum. Small teams of first-year medical students and Penn undergraduate students acting as teaching assistants lead small groups of the high school students during activities.

When is it?

The Pipeline Program takes place once each week in the spring semester (Wednesdays, 3-5 pm, mid-January through mid-April), and planning (independent work and monthly) begins in the fall semester.

What are the time commitment and responsibilities?

The time commitment is roughly 3 to 5 hours each week; however, more time is required during the planning stages than during the actual program.

Two medical or graduate students serve as fellows for each curriculum (Gastroenterology, Neurology or Cardiology).

Your responsibilities include:

• Create and oversee implementation of curriculum (Gastroenterology, Neurology or Cardiology)
• Generate a schedule of lessons/topics
• Guide and edit lesson plans
• Identify important teaching points and “take homes” for each lesson
• Help with teaching lessons, when necessary
• Engage fellows to assist in accuracy and implementation of curriculum
• Plan special events such as dissections or patient visits, etc.
• Recruit medical student teacher volunteers
• Coordinate and oversee medical student teachers
• Ensure appropriate incorporation of undergraduate teaching assistants
• Facilitate communication between medical student teachers and TAs
• Lead an orientation session for medical student teachers and undergraduate TAs
• Create final project options and prepare high school students for final presentations

Sounds like a lot BUT we have worked with fabulous med students in the past who have designed lessons/programming and shared so much detail that there will be no wheel reinventing here. You’ll get to pick up the baton and carry it forward! AND there are TWO med student fellows per curriculum to share the work.

Bonus: Fellows are paid $1000 in the spring for their work.

How to apply?

Send me your CV and complete this application: https://forms.gle/jn6zqVrcEKuibu5A6

Deadline to apply is Sept 10 at 5:00pm. If you are interested but need an extension, let me know as soon as possible. Dr. Lewis will meet with the applicants virtually in late August/early September and a decision will be made in September. If you have any questions at all, do not hesitate to email Dr. Lewis at Sharon.lewis@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.

Contact Information:

Sharon Lewis, MD
Associate Professor of Neurology
Assistant Dean for Diversity Recruitment
AOA Beta Chapter Councilor
Director of the EMG lab at PAH
Perelman School of Medicine
University of Pennsylvania
Administrative Assistant: Brad Lee
PH: 215-829-8593
Fax: 215-829-6606

Are you a recent or soon-to-be PhD graduate? Would you like to spend up to six months making a difference by developing and teaching science curriculum abroad? 

Science Corps offers fully paid internships to upcoming and recent PhD graduates (up to four years after graduation) to help build science capacity at one of our two host locations – a small city on the island of Bohol in the Philippines and a village up in the Indian Himalayas. We are also currently developing new sites in partnership with Pueblo Science. 

Fellows travel to partner institutions to develop science curriculum, teach in secondary school classrooms, train teachers, and build community-based research projects. In addition to building science capacity at these host locations, we also aim to offer fellows a life-changing experience. They are given the opportunity to spend time in beautiful locations, immerse themselves in different cultures, and learn from their host educators, all while making positive contributions to these communities. 

We are presently interested in recruiting immediately for fellowships starting within the next year. The deadline for this application round is July 31st, but we still encourage you to contact us if you would like to be considered for a later appointment. To find out more about us and apply, please go to https://science-corps.org.

Dear SOM students,

The University of Pennsylvania Division of Student Engagement is seeking 100 current Penn graduate and professional students who are interested in serving this summer as graduate assistants (GAs) for the Penn Rising Senior Summer Academy (PennRSSA), an adaptive, pioneering new program serving rising seniors attending public and public charter high schools in the School District of Philadelphia. There is a $2,000 stipend for GAs as well as the training and support needed to mentor local high school students. Please see the attached flyer for more information. Applications are now being accepted.

If becoming a GA isn’t possible for you, we are also looking for medical and graduate students who would like to do one-time presentations and be part of panels focused on medicine and research related careers. If interested, please contact Dr. Jamie Shuda, Director of Outreach and Education at the SOM’s Institute for Regenerative Medicine at jshuda@sas.upenn.edu by Friday, June 5^th.

We appreciate your willingness to educate and inspire the students in Penn’s own backyard!

Are you looking for opportunities to share your research with school students? Would you like to mentor school students and inspire them? Join Open Labs at Penn on Sep. 26th, 5:30-7:30pm in Houston Hall Class of 1947 for pizza and soft drinks to learn more about the opportunities on Penn’s campus.

Open Labs is a graduate student organization at Penn, with associate chapters at Yale, Princeton, Columbia, and Harvard. Open Labs is the host of Science Café – a series of outreach events for local high school students featuring TED-style talks by graduate student researchers and breakout sessions focused on encouraging students to pursue careers in STEM.