“We give local students interested in health careers a better idea of what kind of opportunities are out there, give them experience with the different fields, and they develop a better understanding of how to prepare to pursue these careers,” said Paul Meissner, the program’s director. “Hopefully, they'll meet people who will be their mentors for years to come as they pursue their dreams.”
Overseen by Montefiore’s Department of Family Medicine, the program allows inner-city high school and college students to gain valuable knowledge and professional skills through interactive workshops, mentoring by a physician and observation of physician-patient interactions.
Student participants complete a rigorous six-week program of instructive presentations, workshops dealing with maternal and child health diseases such as asthma, diabetes and congenital abnormalities. Students also participate in field trips, shadowing nurses, social workers and physicians enrolled in Montefiore’s Residency Program in Social Medicine (RSPM), a collaborative physician residency-training program that includes Family Medicine, Pediatrics and Internal Medicine. All are healthcare professionals who provide care in urban, underserved and predominately minority communities. At course completion, a graduation ceremony is held in August and this year, Bronx-Westchester County State Senator Ruth Russell-Thompson will address be the keynote speaker.
The Program is jointly funded by the Federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau and the Bronx-Westchester Area Health Center.
Montefiore Medical Center, The University Hospital and Academic Medical Center for the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, ranks among the top one percent of all US hospitals based on its investments in medical innovation and cutting-edge technology.
Montefiore invests more in order to enable compassionate, personalized care and the most positive outcomes for patients and their families in New York, the tri-state area and beyond.
Montefiore’s unique combination of ‘state-of-the-art’ technology with ‘state-of-the-heart’ medical and nursing care in a teaching and research environment provides patients with access to world-class medical experts, the newest and most innovative treatments and the best medical center experience anywhere.
This 1,062 bed medical center includes the Henry and Lucy Moses Division, the Jack D. Weiler Hospital and The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, a large home healthcare agency and a 21-site medical group practice located throughout the Bronx and nearby Westchester.
Montefiore treats all major illnesses and has distinguished centers of excellence in cardiology and cardiac surgery, cancer care, tissue and organ transplantation, children's health, women's health, surgery and the surgical subspecialties. Montefiore Medical Center focuses on providing family-centered healthcare in a nurturing environment that extends well beyond hospital and clinic walls.
© 2012 Montefiore Medical Center