(Philadelphia, PA) - The Pincus Family Foundation is partnering with the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University (LKSOM) to establish the Pincus Family Foundation Urban Health Fellowship. The two-year Fellowship, made possible by a nearly $600,000 grant from the Pincus Family Foundation, will provide selected junior level health care professionals with the tools needed to implement innovative, community-driven, population-based health programs that improve the overall health of children living in the urban, distressed communities in and around North Philadelphia.
"The Pincus Family Foundation has a long history dating back to its creation by noted Philanthropist David N. Pincus of supporting causes and initiatives focusing on the health and education of children and families," says Larry R. Kaiser, MD, FACS, Dean of LKSOM, President and CEO of Temple University Health System and Senior Vice President for Health Affairs at Temple University. "We are proud and humbled to be able to partner with them on this novel fellowship."
"The Pincus Family Foundation is pleased to be the catalyst for this groundbreaking endeavor at Temple," says Andrew Epstein, MD, Trustee of the Pincus Family Foundation. "Our founder, David Pincus, grew up on North Broad Street and was deeply impressed by the care offered and mission carried out by Temple in North Philadelphia. Our organization is already funding global projects in places like Botswana and the Dominican Republic that are similar in scope to what we plan to accomplish with this fellowship; we look forward to funding an initiative that will be a big step forward in developing the healthcare delivery model used in urban environments."
The Pincus Urban Health Fellowship will provide health care professionals with a well-rounded education about the state of pediatric health in urban communities, as well as the skill set needed to develop and implement innovative projects that address defined problems, the tools needed to measure the outcomes and the platform necessary to advocate for sustainability and portability of successful programs.
The Fellowship will reside in the Center for Bioethics, Urban Health and Policy (CBUHP) at LKSOM and will be granted to two selected physician Fellows. The Fellows will earn a Masters of Arts Degree in Urban Bioethics and, upon completion of the Fellowship, will be offered Temple Faculty positions with academic appointments in CBUHP and their clinical department. CBUHP houses the only Masters of Arts degree in Urban Bioethics in the country.
"The delivery of health care in urban, distressed communities needs to look different than health care delivery looks today, and we must provide health care providers with the tools they need to help people in urban communities truly have the capacity to be healthy," says Kathleen Reeves, MD, Senior Associate Dean of Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion; Director of CBUHP; and Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at LKSOM. "Training health care providers in true, neighborhood engaged care is the only way we can ever hope to address the crisis that urban health disparities create and the only way we can work to reduce the overwhelming financial burden that results."
During the first year, the Pincus Fellows will be versed in multiple educational experiences, which will give them a clear understanding of the health disparities that urban children face every day. The coursework will be provided by CBUHP. They will also learn how social determinants of health, exposure to adverse experiences, violence, food insecurity and poverty affect children's long-term health. The course work will include a year-long, longitudinal, community engagement course that is founded on community-driven project development. Fellows will also take part in experiential and mentorship learning opportunities through the Temple Center for Population Health.
During the second year of the Fellowship, the Fellows will identify a specific pediatric, urban problem evident in North Philadelphia and work with academic, medical and community mentors to develop, implement and evaluate an innovative intervention with the goal of improving pediatric health in a fiscally sustainable way.
"A significant outcome of this fellowship will be a cohort of highly trained health care professionals who understand the complex integration of social and economic elements that create inequities in health outcomes," says Susan L. Freeman, MD, MS, Chief Medical Officer of Temple University Health System, President & CEO of Temple's Center for Population Health and Vice Dean of Health Care Systems for LKSOM. "These professionals will be dedicated to creating, implementing and sustaining population health-based initiatives in North Philadelphia that will address these inequities and improve health in our community."
The first two Fellows are in the process of being selected and will begin their Fellowships this fall.
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About Temple Health
Temple University Health System (TUHS) is a $1.6 billion academic health system dedicated to providing access to quality patient care and supporting excellence in medical education and research. The Health System consists of Temple University Hospital (TUH), ranked among the "Best Hospitals" in the region by U.S. News & World Report; TUH-Episcopal Campus; TUH-Northeastern Campus; Fox Chase Cancer Center, an NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center; Jeanes Hospital, a community-based hospital offering medical, surgical and emergency services; Temple Transport Team, a ground and air-ambulance company; and Temple Physicians, Inc., a network of community-based specialty and primary-care physician practices. TUHS is affiliated with the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University.
The Lewis Katz School of Medicine (LKSOM), established in 1901, is one of the nation's leading medical schools. Each year, the School of Medicine educates approximately 840 medical students and 140 graduate students. Based on its level of funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Katz School of Medicine is the second-highest ranked medical school in Philadelphia and the third-highest in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. According to U.S. News & World Report, LKSOM is among the top 10 most applied-to medical schools in the nation.
Temple Health refers to the health, education and research activities carried out by the affiliates of Temple University Health System (TUHS) and by the Katz School of Medicine. TUHS neither provides nor controls the provision of health care. All health care is provided by its member organizations or independent health care providers affiliated with TUHS member organizations. Each TUHS member organization is owned and operated pursuant to its governing documents.
About Pincus Family Foundation
The Pincus Family Foundation's mission is the well-being of children. Established by Philanthropist David Pincus, PFF views itself as a conduit that engages and partners with 501 c3 charitable institutions dedicated to improving the quality of life for children living in underserved populations.