Growing Philly's lead in "Eds and Meds" sector
Tuesday, September 1st, 2009
No sector is more important to Philadelphia's regional economy than "eds and meds," higher education and health care. Philadelphia's life sciences cluster was ranked second in the nation across a broad range of factors in a recent Milken Institute study. It has a diverse array of colleges and universities, ranging from Ivy League heavyweights to hard-working, under-appreciated community college. The sector is the No. 1 employer in the region.
Participants broke into two breakout groups for discussion.
Their task: To work together to come up with specific ideas to help protect the sector from those challenges, and to help it seize those opportunities.
The forum was designed and led by WHYY's partner in civic dialogue, the Penn Project for Civic Engagement.
The second breakout group
Then they were asked to imagine a Philadelphia region which, in the year 2020, was home to the healthiest, most active "eds-meds" sector in America. First, from the point of view of that imagined future, they tried to describe in vivid detail what that success looked like. Then they jointly wrote the "history" of that future, explaining what steps were taken, what problems overcome, what challenges met to achieve that good result. They were led in the effort by pairs of PPCE-trained moderators.
>>Join the discussion<< at onlinetownhall.org.
Read the prompt used by the two breakout groups.
A list of the participants can be found here.
Detailed reports on the work of the two groups can be found here: Group 1 report (pdf link), Group 2 report (pdf link)
Read the blog report on the session by WHYY's Alan Tu.
Hear Chris Satullo's audio commentary about the eds-meds issue.
To highlight a few recurring themes from the evening's dialogue:
* That ideal Philadelphia of 2020 would be a place with many fewer silos, secrets and divisions, a place where a young entrepreneur with talent and an idea would not have to jump through so many hoops and learn so many secret codes to get a foothold.
* It would be a place that had taken dramatic steps to reform its K-12 education.
* The young students in that K-12 system would have a much clearer idea of the "career paths" and "talent paths" available to them in the region's thriving eds-meds sector. And they would have teachers and other adult mentors who knew exactly what the opportunities were, and knew how to point young people in the right direction to grasp those options.
* It would be a place that truly knew all the good things it had going for it, all the fine work being done inside its borders – and would celebrate and promote those successes to the world – instead of burying them beneath a pall of negativity and fear.
* It would be a place that had big dreams, and was unafraid to ask state and federal government for help in reaching for those dreams.
* It would be a place with rich, supple, active social networks, connecting people of talent and enthusiasm who might never have met in the old, siloed Philadelphia.
>>Join the discussion<< at onlinetownhall.org and participate in the dialog!
I enjoyed participating in the “Eds and Meds” forum very much. Everyone in the work group I attended expressed ideas on how to grow the region’s self respect as a national center for educational and medical research and development.
I think a future forum should develop a concrete plan of action. The people who attended the first forum have skills that could further this goal. Perhaps it would be good to take a few ideas and work on them.
My suggestions:
1. Hold a regional meeting with school district officials and local medical facilities and universities on ways to introduce students -
particularly those at risk of dropping out of school – to what it’s like to attend college or work in medical research. Develop
sponsorship of tours of a medical facility or pharmaceutical lab. When our son started medical school last year at Jefferson, my husband and I and other parents were given a tour of the facilities and saw some
of the state-of-the-art equipment being used in hospitals today. We found it fascinating. I’m sure high school students would as well.
2. Help get the word out – perhaps during these tours – about programs that the state offers for students who consider working in scientific or technological fields. The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency offers $3,000 grants each year from sophomore through senior year of college for students who enter these fields and
agree to work in Pennsylvania one year for each year they received the grant. I’m not sure many people know about these grants.
3. Develop a program with home improvement centers – like Lowe’s in West Philadelphia – on sponsorship of workshops to teach families buying
their first house in the city how to maintain it. Parents who were raised in conditions of poverty themselves – whether in the inner
city or in a foreign country – often do not know how or have the resources to maintain a home properly. A good home environment is
vital to a child’s success in school.
These are a few ideas to continue the work of the “eds and meds” forum. Best wishes with this endeavor.