PHOENIXVILLE; November 10, 2015
The Clinic, founded in 2001 by two women, to provide comprehensive medical care to the uninsured, wants to help bridge healthcare’s gender gap. To this end, we have developed “Girls in Medicine” a week-long intensive and year-long mentoring program for high school girls in Chester County, Montgomery County, and “All Girl” High Schools in Pennsylvania. The hands-on, hospital-based curriculum and stimulating mentorship are designed to create tomorrow’s healthcare leaders. Girls In Medicine is the first hospital and community based program for girls in Pennsylvania.
Girls from the Academy of Notre Dame de Namur in Villanova, Pennsylvania will be among the first to receive official notification of their acceptance into the first class of 50 which will begin in August 2016. School Officials, Parents, and Applicants will attend an Acceptance Ceremony where they will receive their certificates for admission into the program. “The program has been received very well, and we are bombarded with calls, emails, and applications, said “Marrea Walker-Smith, Director of Girls In Medicine.
Women, who make up 75% of the healthcare workforce, comprise only 18% of hospital CEOs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A RockHealth survey showed that in Thomson Reuters 100 Top Hospitals, women make up merely 10% of CEOs, 34% of leadership teams, and 27% of hospital boards. Healthcare and its leadership have an enormous gender gap.
“The program is designed to increase self-esteem, confidence and leadership among girls at an early age, so they understand the academic, social and emotional challenges of women working in healthcare, said Walker-Smith.”
Event Details
When: Thursday, February 4, 2016
Where: Academy of Notre Dame de Namur, 560 Sproul Road, Villanova, PA
Time: 1 p.m.
About Girls In Medicine
The GIM program is a one-year program for high school girls (15 – 18 yrs. of age) authored by The Clinic and supported by Phoenixville Hospital and Paoli Hospital. The program kicks-off with a Summer Intensive held at Paoli Hospital and Phoenixville Hospital from August 22-26, 2016. After successfully completing the Summer Healthcare Intensive, participants meet monthly with their mentors to guide them on developing their health program or research project in their school or community environments. For participants interested in continuing to increase their healthcare experience in the hospital setting during the after-school or weekend hours, Phoenixville Hospital will consider them for volunteer positions working in other areas of the hospital such as Emergency Medicine, Pediatrics, Obstetrics, just to name a few.
There are 6 objectives to the GIM Program:
1. Increase the knowledge of medical specialties and the patient populations they treat.
2. Provide low-income females with learning opportunity to break cycles of poverty
3. Raise awareness of the variety of career paths in health care beyond physicians.
4. Gain hands on experiences in various hospital departments.
5. Provide CPR / First Aid certification classes
6. Present the Healthcare Ambassador opportunity
