Phoenixville 'Girls In Medicine' Program Aims To Inspire High Schoolers

PHOENIXVILLE, PA -- The Clinic, founded in 2001 by two women to provide comprehensive medical care to the uninsured, wants to help bridge healthcare’s gender gap, and have announced a new mentoring program to inspire girls in Phoenixville and Chester County to become healthcare leaders of the future.

“Girls in Medicine” is 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 Clinic announced in a press release.

The hands-on, hospital-based curriculum and stimulating mentorship are designed to create tomorrow’shealthcare 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 on Thursday at 1 p.m. 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, in a news release.

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 Clinic says.

“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.

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.