Solidarity Week 2020
Solidarity Week is an annual event organized by chapters of Gold Humanism Honor Society across the country. This year, at Penn, we have chosen to focus on the theme of "Healthcare Outside the Hospital." During our medical training, so much of our time is spent on the care that we deliver in inpatient settings. This week, we hope to highlight some of the work being done in community sites around the city.
Day 1: Climate Justice Lunch Talk • March 2, 2020 • Sponsor: Healthcare Sustainability Group
On Monday, 03/02/2020, we had a lunch talk and discussion from 12-1pm in the Journal Medical Education Center Room 515E/W with Dr. Farah Hussain, who is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine and Hospitalist at Penn. She introduced scientific data that supports the threat of climate change, how it affects our patients, and what we, as healthcare providers can do to protect our vulnerable communities.
Day 2 • March 3, 2020
Helping Hands Lunch Talk • Sponsor: Penn Palliative Care
On Tuesday, 03/03/2020, Representatives from the Philadelphia Death Doula Collective and the Maternal, Child, and Family Health Division of the Philadelphia Department of Public Health hosted a talk and discussion from 12-1pm in the Journal Medical Education Center Room 515E/W on Doula support at the beginning and the end of life.
Covenant House Volunteer Project
On Tuesday, 03/03/2020, Students traveled to Covenant House, a shelter in Germantown for youth experiencing homelessness, to offer assistance with volunteer projects. Covenant House Pennsylvania (CHP) is a program for young people in desperate situations age 21 and under with the goal of helping young people facing homelessness to become healthy, happy, responsible, productive, and independent adults.
Day 3 • March 4, 2020
Prevention Point Lunch Talk • Sponsor: Addiction Medicine Interest Group
On Wednesday, 03/04/2020, staff members from Prevention Point discussed their experiences working with the community in the Journal Medication Education Center Room 515E/W from 12-1pm. Prevention Point Philadelphia (PPP), located in Kensington, is one of the largest syringe service programs in the United States. In addition to providing sterile needles and other injection supplies, PPP provides numerous harm reduction services, including naloxone distribution, HIV and hepatitis C testing, and medications for opioid use disorder.
Diabetes Care in the Community
On Wednesday, 03/04/2020 at 4409 Chestnut St from 6-7pm, we joined West Philadelphia community members and Dr. Marc Shalaby at PhillyCuts for a night of education and engagement as we discuss diabetes care outside of the clinic.
Day 4: Federally Qualified Health Centers Lunch Talk • March 5, 2020 • Sponsor: Measey Primary Care Pathway Program at Penn
On Thursday, 03/05/2020, we hosted a lunch talk in the Jordan Medical Education Center Room 515E/W from 12-1pm by Dr. Rachel Truchil who works at Philadelphia’s District Health Center #4 on 4400 Haverford Avenue. She also works at the Penn Center for Primary Care, where she is the director of the Penn Refugee Clinic and treats patients with opiate use disorder in the Suboxone clinic. She spoke about delivering primary care through the system of federally qualified health centers across Philadelphia.
Day 5: Food Insecurity Lunch Talk • March 6, 2020 • Sponsor: Culinary Medicine
On Friday, 03/06/2020, Dr. Senbagam Virudachalam, an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and a member at PolicyLab, hosted a lunch talk in the Jordan Medical Education Center Room 515W from 12-1pm. She provided an overview of food insecurity nationally and in Philadelphia, focusing on how we define, identify and aid food insecure families. She also discussed how her research, specifically the Home Plate project, and other local organizations work to combat food insecurity for families with young children.
Day 6: Penn Health Leadership Academy: Healthy Minds, Healthy Bodies • March 7, 2020
To close Solidarity Week 2020, Penn GHHS will be hosting the first Penn Health Leadership Academy: Healthy Minds, Healthy Bodies with over 50 high school students from West Philadelphia at the Jordan Medical Education Center on Saturday, 03/07/2020 from 1-5pm. The goal of the day is too provide important health education that is often lacking in lower-resourced communities as well as to both empower teens by teaching them practical skills to keep themselves healthy and to give them exposure to Penn and the world of medicine.
