Rowan medical students: building community through health care and service

Across South Jersey, more than 1,000 Rowan medical students are making a difference in people's lives - especially for those who are most vulnerable.

These aspiring doctors provide free health care. They coach youth sports. They grow food in community gardens. And they engage in a wide range of other activities that create healthier communities.

At the same time, these service programs teach valuable lessons that better prepare students for their medical careers and, ultimately, help them become better doctors.

Rowan's two medical schools are committed to supporting these student-run programs, according to leaders from Cooper Medical School of Rowan University (CMSRU) and Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine (SOM).

"It's part of our mission, to serve an underserved community like Camden. It's truly part of our students' education," said CMSRU Dean Annette C. Reboli, MD. "Our students learn the barriers that people face. In return, they're giving back to the community for this learning. In fact, each of our recent graduated classes of 100 or so students completed more than 16,000 hours of service to the Camden community."

Rowan-Virtua SOM Dean Richard Jermyn, DO, noted that community service "reminds us that, as physicians, our core purpose is service to patients - not the other way around."

These programs bring students into close contact with people from diverse communities. "It takes away the stigma of different populations and the stigma of disease," said Dean Jermyn. "It allows students to work through their preconceptions in a really healthy way."

For these reasons, service is deeply ingrained in the culture of both schools, and they recruit students who are passionate about caring for marginalized populations. At CMSRU, service learning is built into the curriculum as a required component of the medical education experience. At SOM, a strong tradition of volunteerism inspires many students to actively engage in these programs, often exceeding expectations in their contributions to the community.

SOM's Jessica Mitchell and CMSRU's Max von Suskil are prime examples. The second-year students each work in their school's free health clinic, while also volunteering with other service-learning programs that inspire them.

Free Health Clinics Connect Students, Patients

Both the Cooper Rowan Clinic (CRC) and Rowan-Virtua Community Health Center (Rowan-Virtua CHC) offer free primary care to uninsured and underinsured patients. Students provide care under the supervision of physician faculty members. In addition, the future doctors link patients with other resources, to address both medical and social issues that affect their health.

For von Suskil, working at CRC is teaching him "invaluable" lessons that textbooks and lectures can't fully convey.

"I love it," said the Rowan undergraduate alum (B.S. 2020). "We get to provide accessible, no-cost health care to so many patients. Even as students, we get to make a significant impact."

Von Suskil especially appreciates that CMSRU students follow the same set of patients throughout the first three years of medical school.

"That's a really neat aspect," he said. For example, von Suskil is helping several patients address their chronic diseases consistently over time, by controlling their blood pressure and blood sugar.

"The clinic helps us understand why we're learning everything we're learning," he added. "It helps us keep our eyes on the 'prize' of providing care to patients."

The prospective doctor has also learned about the challenges many people face in obtaining care, and the social issues that impact health - such as a lack of stable housing or limited access to healthy food.

"It's taught me a lot about how health care isn't equally accessible to everybody," said von Suskil, who hails from Monmouth County. "This training will help me identify patients who might need more attention or effort. It will be instrumental for me to provide equitable care."

Students also gain communication skills, humility, and cultural knowledge, according to Dean Reboli. "By sitting down and talking with patients from marginalized communities, they learn compassion and empathy, skills in history-taking and connecting patients with services."

Understanding a patient's culture - such as how they live or what they eat - is crucial for young physicians to be able to deliver optimal care, she noted. "A doctor's level of cultural competency has a direct impact on how well a patient adheres to treatment. It can determine if a patient even comes back to see that doctor again."

SOM's Mitchell is equally passionate about her work at Rowan-Virtua CHC. In addition to caring for patients at the Lindenwold clinic, she and other medical students and faculty provide free health services at neighborhood events across South Jersey.

As coordinator for Rowan-Virtua CHC's community outreach, Mitchell helps arrange these partnerships with area organizations. Such programs focus on women's health, youth and family support, substance abuse, and health screenings, to name a few.

"I love how broad our reach is throughout the community," said the Hunterdon County native. She appreciates the diversity of patients the clinic serves, especially through the outreach programs.

"It's not just clinical medicine," Mitchell emphasized. "We also provide psychosocial support. We're empowering people to live healthier lives by focusing on their mind, body and soul."

Building Bonds with the Community

Improving patients' health requires their trust. And getting to know people through non-medical, community activities helps develop that sense of security, both deans noted.

Mitchell, for example, serves as the co-president of the All-Star Sports Clinic, a student-run athletics program for kids with disabilities.

"It's our own little non-competitive version of Special Olympics," said the longtime runner and personal trainer. She and other SOM students help children ages 6 to 15 enjoy a different sport each month - from basketball to soccer, parachute games to miniature golf.

"It fosters an inclusive environment that makes the kids feel empowered," Mitchell said. "Also, the medical students really grow and gain more understanding of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and how we can relate to them and include them.

"We need to be patient and non-judgmental as physicians," she added, "which is what All-Stars has taught me."

Moreover, Mitchell also co-founded SOM's chapter of the American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry, to further advance support of people with IDD.

In von Suskil's case, he is president of two student-run service organizations: Cooper Sprouts' Community Garden and the Camden chapter of Forging Youth Resilience, a national fitness program.

"I'm passionate about disease prevention through exercise and nutrition," he said. "These two organizations enable me to advocate for living a healthy lifestyle. They also help me better understand my patients' living situations and connect with them to find actionable ways to address their concerns."

These initiatives help CMSRU build strong ties with the local community. In fact, CMSRU's collaboration with its community even led to national recognition by the Association of Medical Colleges with the 2019 Spencer Foreman Award for Community Engagement.

"The medical students and the young athletes have become very close," von Suskil said. "We talk to them about how they're doing in class and discuss their school work. We learn about some of their situations at home."

At Cooper Sprouts', "people see us working in the garden and they come over and talk to us. They get involved," he noted.

Whether growing vegetables in the community, teaching English as a second language, providing "Street Medicine " for people who are unhoused, or myriad other life-changing services, Rowan medical students bring help and hope directly to those in need.

"Our students are the army behind our outreach programs," said SOM's Dean Jermyn. "Without them, we couldn't do it."

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