Community Health Ambassadors Internship Program Students Graduate Physicians Medical Forum Program
Oakland/San Francisco Bay Area/Northern California (PRWEB) June 22, 2016 -- Physicians Medical Forum (PMF) aims to expand the pipeline and the number of African American/Black and minority students who want to become physicians. PMF, a non-profit organization, also provides a network of support that encourages medical students and residents to pursue their careers as physicians in the Oakland/San Francisco Northern California, Bay Area.
To that end, PMF announces on June 22nd, that students completed its 2016 Community Health Ambassadors Internship Program (CHA), a 6-week program that accepts students interested in becoming doctors or pharmacists. PMF receives funding from The California Wellness Foundation, Kaiser Foundation Hospital Fund for Community Benefit Programs at the East Bay Community Foundation, California Healthcare Foundation, The National Medical Fellowships, San Francisco Foundation and Wells Fargo.
Albert L. Brooks, M.D., President, Physicians Medical Forum stated that over six weeks, students explored a variety of Primary Care medical topics including diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, mental health and other healthcare disparities; received training and their American Heart Association Heartsaver CPR AED Card; and had opportunities to be mentored and network with doctors, medical and pharmacy students from UCSF School of Medicine, Kaiser Permanente, the CDC, Sutter Health and San Francisco General Hospital who provided insight into the real world of medicine.
CHA Interns also received training in communications and how to make video presentations. Mitch Roth and Kate Seltzer, President and CEO of Maximum Flavor Media (MFM), a full service video production company based in San Francisco, California conducted the workshops. We produce professional, high quality digital content from corporate marketing videos, client testimonials, and start-up videos to music videos, scripted films, and short-form documentaries. We exist to create unique visual content for you and your brand."
Pictured: CHA Interns L-R: Stalfana Bello, PMF Exec. Dir., Kafi Hemphill, CHA Coordinator and UCSF Medical Student, 2nd year CHA Intern Jordynn Edison, Armani Thompson, Ayana Brown, David Ayers, Jenny Deng, Joshua Ruvalcaba, Limi Ahmed, Dana Abdelgadir, Lauren Bellow, Anne Evelyn Alvarenga Fernandes Santos, Alana Eaton, KaJanae Walton, Nasyatana Comer; and Ugomma Eze, CHA Assistant Coordinator and UCSF Medical Student, 1st year
Stalfana Bello, M.P.A., Executive Director, Physicians Medical Forum said, “The Community Health Ambassadors Internship Program provided these incredible students, who will be first generation doctors in their families, a real-world snapshot of medicine and what it takes to become physicians or pharmacists.”
Student Ambassadors worked in teams to create six health-focused educational videos or power point presentations for specific community organizations about common public health concerns affecting their communities. The organizations included Sinkler Miller Medical Association, CREATORS After School Program, East Oakland Youth and Development Center, American Heart Association and the Physicians Medical Forum.
Kafi Hemphill, CHA Program Coordinator and UCSF Medical Student, 2nd year remarked, “Historically, African American/Black and minority students have had extremely limited exposure or access to higher education in the field of medicine. This remains to be a startling truth, even today. CHA provides students with an almost unparalleled opportunity in their journey to becoming doctors.”
About Physicians Medical Forum (PMF):
The Physicians Medical Forum is an Oakland, CA-based non-profit 501(c)(3) whose mission is to encourage recruitment and retention of African American/Black physicians to eliminate health disparities; improve access to care; and maintain diversity within the profession, thereby, improving the quality of healthcare for the community overall.
Other PMF programs and initiatives include: Doctors On Board Pipeline Program, Doctors Rock Workshop Series on Mentoring, Exam Prep, Interviewing skills and writing personal statements, physicians stipends at UC Davis and UCSF Schools of Medicines, physician education and development, providing scholarships for medical students and residents; networking with legislators and medical organizations and community outreach programs. http://www.PMFMD.com
Editors: The following are available for interviews. To arrange interviews, contact:
Stalfana Bello | 510.562.5560 | ExecutiveDirector (at)PMFMD(dot)com
• Stalfana Bello, M.P.A, PMF Executive Director
• Albert L. Brooks, M.D., PMF President
• Kafi Hemphill, CHA Program Coordinator, UCSF School of Medicine, Medical Student
• Ugomma Eze, CHA Assistant Program Coordinator, UCSF School of Medicine, Medical Student
• Kathryn E. Malone, M.D. PMF Vice-President
• CHA Student Interns
Physicians Medical Forum
2201 Broadway, Suite 212 • Oakland, CA 94612 510.562-5560 p • http://www.pmfmd.com
“The ultimate reason to become a medical doctor is to help people. PMF is in this business”
Stalfana Bello, Physicians Medical Forum, http://www.pmfmd.com, +1 (510) 562-5560, [email protected]
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