Past Cohorts
The PASH Cohort of 2024 has enrolled 12 students from ten School District of Philadelphia high schools.
The program began March 2, 2024.
The PASH 2023 Cohort had 12 participants! 11 out of 12 students who applied proceeded to participate in a summer research internship with their mentors.
Read more about PASH 2023 in the Penn Derm Winter 2023 Newsletter.
Testimonies:
“As a person of color, particularly being a black woman, I am aware of the need for more of us in healthcare. Lack of representation causes disparities in healthcare for underrepresented and/or marginalized groups, causing our healthcare concerns to go unnoticed. In the Summer Research Internship I would like to work in a derm lab and use the skills I learned in PASH. I am truly grateful for the PASH experiences. The program was laid out so well in the different activities and labs, which made my love for medicine and science even stronger.” – 10th grader
“As for college PASH has 
made it possible that I certainly want to go into the medical field. It was so diverse and allowed us to see there are other things we can do in dermatology instead of meeting the patient face to face. I’m planning to major in more science classes and eventually apply to medical school afterwards. I know what steps I need to take and even confident that this is something I can fall in love with.” – 11th grader
“PASH was the experience of a lifetime. Saying I’m beyond grateful for this program is an understatement; I’ve gained so much from it! Explaining everything that I learned in PASH in a small essay is challenging considering there was so much content in just four sessions.” – 12th grader
“These hands-on experiences ignited my passion for science and allowed me to envision realistic aspects of my professional future. For example, seeing the impact that different databases played in identifying bacteria from the skin showed me the significance of technology in healthcare, reinforcing my desire to explore this space.” – 11th grade
The 2022 PASH Cohort was the first in-person cohort following Covid-19. In total, there were 12 students, 7 of which went on to complete a summer internship with their mentors at Penn Derm.
Testimonies:
“Overall, I loved lab time as it allowed me to meet so many different people. They were all so nice and never gave up on me. Because of them I feel so much more confident going into the science world. Before this internship, I had little to no lab experience but now I am coming out knowing how to design and clone CRISPRs and so much more.” – Student
“I was able to learn skills and concepts I would have never learned inside a high school classroom.” – Student
From 2017 to 2021, PASH has hosted 57 participants from local Philadelphia high schools.
PASH’s impact on students is clearly evidenced:
- 88.9% of students remarked PASH to have influenced them to attend college
- 77.8% of students indicated an interest to pursue a career in dermatology
- 83.3% of students shared that PASH pushed them to engage more with scientific reading
Testimonies
“PASH really set me on a great path. It is the first medical program experience that solidified how much I loved medicine and how passionate I was about it. Because of PASH and all the programs that you have helped me be apart of, I have been constantly inspired to continue to pursue medicine.
I participated in PASH right before the pandemic in March 2020. I honestly think that if I hadn’t participated in that program, I would’ve become disconnected from pursuing medicine in the way that I have. Because of PASH, I continued to have access to other opportunities through and after the pandemic that have guided me through my career journey. It was also one of the first times where I felt like I could achieve a career that included my passions of clinical medicine, laboratory medicine/research, and the humanities. This was due to me speaking to professionals who had careers in epidemiology or had completed MD/Ph.D programs.” – Student from 2021
“I made amazing memories at PASH. I attended lectures from outstanding presenters and met peers with big aspirations just like me. I learned so much about dermatology and the medical field in just a short matter of time. Likewise, I enjoyed all the shadowing & research that we did because I got to learn about positions that I am passionate about. I had a great experience in the lab and I will never forget the contributions that I was able to make while there and the people who helped me along the way.“ – Student from 2022
Where are they now?
- Pre-PA Student at Thomas Jefferson University
- Pre-Med Student at the University of Pennsylvania
- Nursing Assistant at Penn Oncology
- Pharmacy Student at Temple University
- Behavioral Health Technician at Bluebird ABA LLC
- Medical Assistant at Advocare Fairmount Pediatrics
