Meharry Medical College in Nashville and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School Health Care Management Department recently announced a joined MD/PhD program to foster more diversity in the healthcare field. The new Meharry/Wharton alliance serves as a continuance of a long-existing collaboration between Wharton, the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania and Meharry’s Center for Health Policy. The joint MD/PhD program will further both institutions’ efforts to bolster minority influence in healthcare and increase participation by members of underrepresented communities in health research. The program is expected to launch in 2021.
Since 2012, Meharry’s leadership team has been involved in the annual Summer Undergraduate Minority Research program at the University of Pennsylvania which provides undergraduate students from underrepresented groups with the opportunity to participate in a summer research and mentorship program. This on-going collaboration influenced the development of the joined MD/PhD program.
“It is an honor for Meharry to continue its legacy of service by amplifying the voices of those involved in health care and health policy throughout minority communities,” said James E. K. Hildreth, president and CEO of Meharry Medical College. “We are thrilled to unite with a prominent institution such as the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School Health Care Management to take essential steps to diversify the landscape of the healthcare workforce.”
