Students to Develop Projects to Meet the Medical Needs of Local Communities

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Four Thomas Jefferson University students have recently been awarded Albert Schweitzer Fellowships, allowing each of them to dedicate more than 200 hours of community service to enhance access to adequate health services for low-income communities where the need is greatest.  Three students – Carrie Zaslow, Elizabeth Daly, and Cameron Bass – from Jefferson Medical College, along with Megan Riley, a physical therapy student from Jefferson College of Health Professions, are committed to serve with Project HOME and the Ridge Avenue Shelter in Philadelphia, to develop various projects to meet the medical needs of the community.  The four Jefferson students are among 12 other 2008-2009 Schweitzer Fellows who have been awarded this honor, and were chosen through a competitive selection process from the area’s top health and human service universities and colleges.

Carrie Zaslow, Medical Student, Los Angeles, California
Carrie’s project will offer "mini-courses," which include reading and understanding nutrition labels, and how to be smart shoppers in collaboration with community agencies in underserved areas of Philadelphia. Carrie’s mini-courses will be a hybrid of interactive lectures and discussions, which provide take-home educational materials and focuses on practical applications of nutrition.

“I was thrilled when I learned that I had been selected as an Albert Schweitzer Fellow,” said Zaslow.  “I am so excited to build my project from the ground up and turn it into reality for the people who need it most.”

Cameron Bass, Medical Student, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Elizabeth Daly, Medical Student, Yardley, Pennsylvania
Cameron and Elizabeth will work as partners on a project based at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, a clinic operated by Project HOME in North Philadelphia. Elizabeth and Cameron will focus on patients who have difficulty managing chronic conditions, such as diabetes and hypertension, because of economic, social, and educational barriers to healthcare.

“With this program, our aim is to improve the quality of life for these patients by helping them understand their diagnosis and learning how to manage it better,” said Bass. “Both Cameron and I are sure this experience will enhance our medical training and will help us grow as compassionate caregivers,” adds Daly.

Megan Riley, Physical Therapy Student, Shavertown, Pennsylvania
Megan’s project is to start a diabetes intervention program called “Taking Charge of Your Sugar” at the Ridge Avenue Shelter, a local shelter for homeless men. The program is a revolving 10-week program that combines physical activity, health education, and nutritional facts for diabetic populations.

“Working with this population will be challenging because, for the most part, the population at the shelter is always fluctuating,” said Riley.  “This project will help me explore and challenge my perception of the homeless and allow me to grow as a professional caregiver.”

The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship is a national nonprofit organization, which develops Leaders in Health Service to Underserved Communities. By participating in a unique, entrepreneurial, cross-disciplinary model of education and mentored practical experience, graduate students in the health professions provide direct service to those most in need and develop a lifelong commitment to service in the spirit of Dr. Albert Schweitzer. Albert Schweitzer, M.D. (1875-1965), was a German theologian, musician, philosopher and physician, whose underlying philosophy of Reverence for Life – an elementary and universal principle of ethics – is the founding principle of The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship.

Since 1991, the accomplishments of The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship (ASF) include providing over 311,000 hours of service by working with more than 400 community-based agencies; and establishing 11 local programs in: Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Greater Philadelphia, Houston, Los Angeles, New Hampshire/Vermont, North Carolina, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, San Francisco/Oakland.

Once Fellows have completed their year of service, they join a network of 1,585 Schweitzer “Fellows for Life,” across the United States and abroad. Virtually all continue their commitment to lives of service in many cities and towns around the country and around the world. Because the work of the Fellows is donated without charge to the communities served, each fellow’s project is supported entirely by philanthropic dollars through universities, corporations, foundations, and individual donors. 

For more information on the Great Philadelphia Schweitzer Fellowship Program, visit the website at http://www.schweitzerfellowship.org or please contact Ms. Nicole M. Cobb at 215-955-9995, nicole.cobb@jefferson.edu.