Hello everyone,
I wanted to alert you to what I believe is a very important article that
has just been published in the June 1996 issue of the journal Academic
Medicine:
Schimpff, et. al. The University of Maryland System Invests in its
Community's Minorities. Vol. 71(6): 604-612.
The article describes the University of Maryland's program that focuses on
greater inclusion of minorities, particularly African Americans, in
personnel, construction, purchasing and community outreach. The article
provides an excellent example of how an academic medical center can be an
instrument of community and economic development beyond its traditional
foci of education, research and health care delivery. To quote from the
closing paragraph, "We must become more involved in the impoverished,
frequently minority communities that are our neighbors. This involvement
includes attention to disease prevention and health promotion in the
community in addition to medical care for those who reach our doors. It
also means attention to the demographics of our management and
professional staffs and the leveraging of our massive buying power to the
advantage of the local community."
I hope you'll share your reactions to the University of Maryland's
approach, if there are similar activities underway in your own
institutions, and ways you think we (the collective we) can elevate the
discussion of the role of health professional schools in community and
economic development as we move ahead in developing the new national
organization, Community-Campus Partnerships for Health.
Thanks,
Sarena
Health Professions Schools in Service to the Nation Program