The Office of Campus and Community Partnerships at PCOM’s Philadelphia, PA location coordinates community outreach programs and campus initiatives to build community and provides co-curricular opportunities to prepare future healthcare professionals.
PCOM's Community Wellness Initiative (CWI) was founded to create educational and health services programming that support health and wellness in communities surrounding the College's locations.
CWI programs and events provide opportunities for PCOM students and staff to engage in patient care, community health education and research.
The Community-Based Research Faculty Fellowship was created by the Office of Campus and Community Partnerships in collaboration with the Division of Research and the PCOM Library.
Funding is awarded annually to faculty members who engage community-based organizations and PCOM students in collaborative research studies. Preference is given to proposals that focus on inter-professional initiatives and allow multiple students to volunteer with research duties.
Examples of studies and engagement projects include examining vaccine COVID hesitancy in local communities and exploring health services barriers in rural communities.
PCOM has partnered with the Mazzoni Center, a Philadelphia-based organization, that offers medical trainings on LGBTQIA inclusive healthcare. The training is designed for physicians, physical therapists, physician assistants, medical students and providers in non-medical settings seeking medical information about LGBTQ communities.
Learning objectives include:
The LGBTQIA Council, Office of Campus and Community Partnerships, and PCOM Pride host a welcome reception for all first-year DO and graduate LGBTQIA students at the beginning of each school year.
The President's Campus and Community Engagement Award is given to a graduating student in each academic program at PCOM, PCOM Georgia and PCOM South Georgia, who has made a unique contribution to the College's mission of “educating health professionals to care for the whole person and advance the health of diverse communities.”
PCOM is working to help raise interest in science, technology, engineering and math—plus medicine (STEM+M) at the high school and undergraduate level through its Opportunities Academy. During the one week summer program, students will build their resume and college applications by engaging in labs, networking opportunities and developing their own research presentation alongside PCOM faculty and medical students. Learn more.
The Pathways to Medicine Undergraduate Summer Research Internship is a competitive
program that affords undergraduate students in science and psychology majors an opportunity
to engage in research at PCOM. Second and third-year students are matched with PCOM
faculty, students and staff to be part of medical research teams and experience the
intricacies of working in a professional laboratory.
Offered eight weeks during the summer, students learn how to formulate research questions and hypotheses, design experiments, record results, interpret data and present their findings as part of an oral presentation.
PCOM biomedical sciences student Paul Carango presented his work on Alzheimer's Disease and infection at the Experimental Biology Conference in Philadelphia. Coauthors on the research poster included Cabrini University sophomores Nicolas Saporito and Samuel Geathers. Mark Martin, another coauthor, was also a participant in this program and was hired as a full-time PCOM employee after his graduation from Cabrini. The undergraduate students were hosted by Jacquelyn Gerhart and Dr. Denah Appelt.
The Office of Admissions provides opportunities for young people to learn about the medical professions, scientific inquiry and more through several innovative Community Outreach and Pathway programs and events.
PCOM is proud to partner with the following Philadelphia area schools and organizations. These organizations may provide volunteer opportunities for PCOM students and staff. Contact the Office of Campus and Community Partnerships for more information.
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