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A team of thirteen students from across the country have come to North Philadelphia for this year's Summer Medical Institute (SMI) 2023 (June 17 - July 8). SMI is a three-week program for health professions students to gain valuable experience by learning about the health needs in urban communities, while sharing the love of Christ through conversation and prayer.
During the first week, the students had breakout didactic teaching sessions on Christian perspectives on trauma and suffering, mental health, gun violence, and the relevance of spiritual backgrounds and beliefs in healthcare. The main focus was for students to prepare for their work in the community: becoming comfortable doing the screens, familiarizing themselves with the neighborhoods after several hours of community training, and learning how to approach "real life" situations in the homes of people in our community. Students have also received training on opioids and responses to the opioid epidemic, from both clinicians and community members with lived experience. SMI would not be possible without the contributions of many volunteers; this year's SMI volunteers include 42 faculty (volunteer clinicians and speakers), 12 volunteer meal providers, 3 dedicated interpreters (not including the faculty and students who are bilingual), and 15 additional planning team and support volunteers.
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