Penn Derm Welcomes 2023 PASH Students!

The Penn Academy for Skin Health (PASH) held its 2023 session with a series of workshops on four consecutive Saturday mornings in March. This year marked the seventh consecutive year since this community outreach program first began in 2017. It was also a record year for the Academy’s applicants. Seventy-two students from Philadelphia public or charter high schools applied to PASH, and twelve were accepted to the program. This year’s cohort was a diverse mix of applicants from eleven Philadelphia high schools, and largely comprised of URM (under-represented in medicine) students.

Each week, PASH students learned the fundamentals of skin biology and clinical and basic research. This was complemented by instruction in basic experimental techniques used in biomedical research like slide preparation, microscopy, sample swabbing, micro pipetting, electrophoresis, and PCR. Students also had an opportunity to meet with dermatology patients. The various sessions operated with the help of a team of over twenty dedicated volunteers consisting of Penn Derm physicians, trainees, researchers, and administrative staff. One of the PASH students, a tenth grader, described how impactful the lab methodology sessions were,

I would look forward to my Saturday mornings going to PASH, which filled me with excitement and made me feel one step closer to achieving my dream of becoming a doctor. Throughout these four weeks, I have learned so much in biology and about skin health. When I put on my lab coat and step foot into the lab, I feel like I’m stepping into my future.

The last session of PASH culminated with a session called “Diagnose the Disease!”, where students role-played as dermatologists. I volunteered to facilitate one of the stations, presenting a hypothetical patient’s medical history and clinical and histological images to pairs of students. Using the knowledge they had gained during PASH, they worked to diagnose the presented condition. I was very impressed with the degree of professionalism, aptitude, and knowledge exhibited by all of the students. After just a few weeks of learning, they were able to make relevant observations, identify dermatological abnormalities, and eliminate incorrect conditions from the list of differential diagnoses.

After completion of the program eleven of the twelve PASH students applied for summer research fellowships through the Office of Outreach, Education, and Research. The deparTment looks forward to hosing them this summer and fostering their interest in skin research.

PASH Programming, including the Saturday Academy and Summer internships, are sponsored by the Department of Dermatology, NIH-funded P30: AR069589 “Penn Skin Biology and Diseases Resources-based Center” and the Ruth Gottlieb Research Opportunity Fund.

Donations for PASH can be made to the Penn Dermatology Community Education Fund. For more information contact SBDRC@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.

Written by Kadeejah Abdul-Basser