We Are Medicine

Leading the Way to a Healthier World

Teaching Doctors to See the World Through a Patient's Eyes

When medical students Becky Gilson and Fenton McCarthy (right) sat down to dinner with a patient awaiting a kidney transplant, they realized the full impact of the disease on the young woman and her family. They saw its effect on work and social life and the vital importance of family support. They also experienced the challenges of issues from finding transportation to the hospital for treatment to the emotional ups and down of waiting on the transplant list.

“Someone with a chronic illness has to live with that every day,” McCarthy says. “There is so much that they go through that they don’t necessarily communicate with you as a doctor.” To encourage medical students to see the world through the eyes of their patients, an innovative Penn Medicine program pairs up teams of students with a specific patient during their education. In contrast to the compressed interactions that take place during office hours, the students interact with the patient inside and outside of clinical settings through the Longitudinal Experience to Appreciate Patient Perspectives (LEAPP) program. The program, created through the gift of an anonymous donor, provides a three-dimensional view to encourage the personal engagement that can be lost in the rush of modern medicine. “It is an opportunity to get a wider view of a patient’s life,” says Gilson.

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PREPARE LEADERS
GOAL: $200 MILLION

Graduate student financial aid
The campaign will give us the resources to attract the best and most diverse students, regardless of their financial resources. The Jordan Scholarship Challenge offers an innovative and powerful new way to give.

Curricular innovations
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Enhancing facilities
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