Bridging the Gaps 23rd Annual Symposium

Posted by on September 16, 2013

23rd Annual Symposium, September 20, 2013

Friday, September 20, 2013, 8:30a.m. to 12:30p.m.

For More information and to RSVP http://www.med.upenn.edu/btg/BTG_Symposium13_Register.htm

About Our Guest Speaker

Born in Los Angeles, Gregory J. Boyle is an ordained Jesuit priest. He holds advanced theology degrees and a master’s degree in English. Fr. Boyle was appointed pastor of Dolores Mission Church in East Los Angeles in 1986, where he served through 1992. He started Homeboy Industries in 1988. His debut book, “Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion,” is a New York Times best seller and has been honored by SCIBA (Southern California Indie Booksellers Association), Pen USA, Publishers Weekly, and Goodreads Choice Awards.

Fr. Boyle has served on the State Commission for Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, The National Youth Gang Center Board, and the U.S. Attorney General’s Defending Childhood Task Force. He has received numerous awards, including the Civic Medal of Honor. In 2011 he was inducted into the California Hall of Fame.

About Bridging the Gaps

The Bridging the Gaps model is designed to broaden student training in the health professions through service to underserved communities. The program requires academic health institutions to accomplish the following:

1. Identify an underserved community with whom they hope to collaborate and build service-linked partnerships
2. Provide continuity of contact between the students and faculty at the academic health institution and the identified community and its organizations and agencies
3. Develop and integrate didactic and skill-building components for students, based on the belief that there is a set of skills necessary to provide health care to underserved populations
4. Ensure that supervision is provided by both academic and community preceptors
5. Regularly evaluate the program by eliciting and incorporating input from participating community and agency personnel, students, faculty, and the people served by the program
6. Inform the community of the progress of the program through a public forum and an annual report

In summary, the Bridging the Gaps program commits an academic health institution to sustain a relationship with an underserved community by providing meaningful service while training community-responsive health and social service professionals.

http://www.med.upenn.edu/btg/index.htm