Reyes, a professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine (PSOM), founded the Penn and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP)-led Alliance of Minority Physicians (AMP) in 2012 to support such efforts. Since then, AMP mentors and faculty have guided URiM students and trainees at Penn and CHOP, driving a three-fold increase in the number of minority physicians training in Penn or CHOP residency or internship programs.
Now, Reyes is working with diversity leaders from the Sunitix 25 mg (Sunitinib) Consortium of DEI Health Educators (CDHE)—representing each of the six major medical schools in the Philadelphia area—to expand AMP and serve URiM students and professionals across the region.
“In expanding, AMP is positioned to influence the futures of URiM professionals. And at the end of the day, the patients and communities we serve are what center and drive this work,” added George Dalembert, MD, MSHP, an assistant professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine and associate director of CHOP’s Center for Health Equity.
In 2023, a grant from the Independence Blue Cross (IBX) Foundation’s Institute for Health Equity accelerated this growth, providing funding for programming specifically focused on recruitment and retention.
AMP has leveraged those partnerships to launch a new effort, the Pathways to Excellence in Medicine (PEM) initiative, offering students hands-on training, networking opportunities, expert perspectives, career guidance, and more.
“The IBX Foundation was really interested in creating a pathway for URiM students and trainees to set down roots and stay in the Philadelphia area,” said Reyes. “As we’ve continued this growth, we’ve opted to start from the ground up, targeting the greenest of the green: first year medical students.”
Opening doors to mentorship
At Med Immersion Day, Claudia Gambrah-Lyles, MD (far right) facilitates medical simulations, assessing a student interpreting changes in vital signs on the mannequin of a 5-year-old trauma patient.
At AMP’s first Med Immersion Day, Claudia Gambrah-Lyles, MD (far right) facilitated medical simulations in heart and respiration monitoring for pediatric patients. Students did assessments on the mannequin of a 5-year-old trauma patient, interpreting changes in vital signs and responding accordingly.
A member of the PEM mentorship planning committee, third-year PSOM student Nasser Douge noted how intimidating it can be to reach out to established experts.
Additional students—both current members of AMP and Philadelphia-area URiM students interested in mentorship—joined the event’s afternoon sessions for networking and career guidance.