A $2.4 million Human Resources Services Administration (HRSA) grant is a potential “game changer” for teaching medicine at Penn State College of Medicine and encouraging students to pursue careers in primary care to address a national physician shortage.
“By bringing together education leaders across our organization, we will break down silos and enhance education,” said Dr. Shou Ling Leong, principal investigator of the HRSA grant and associate vice chair of education in the Department of Family and Community Medicine. “Ultimately, the goal is to improve the health of the nation by creating clinical training that is more integrated across disciplines.”
The grant will bring together faculty in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, Division of Internal Medicine, Pharmacology and the Physician Assistant Program to work collaboratively to better train medical professionals for the health care environment in which they will practice.
“This is a potential game-changer because it will develop systems-ready physicians who are prepared to collaborate in interdisciplinary teams,” said Dr. Jed Gonzalo, associate dean for health systems education. “Medical education has traditionally taken place in silos, making it clunky and redundant for the way medicine is practiced today. This grant allows us to build collaborative networks and bridges to make things more efficient.”
Learn more about the grant in this Penn State Medicine article.