Street medicine is the direct provision of health care and social support to those experiencing street homelessness. These are individuals who live under bridges, along riverbanks, and in other outdoor settings. This population has uniquely high mortality and morbidity due to the complex interplay between their individual characteristics and the traditional healthcare system.
Street medicine is a grassroots movement that puts professionals into the fabric of the street community. It creates a platform of solidarity through which health care challenges can be systematically addressed. Street medicine pioneers an approach to caring for those on the streets and provides a conceptual model for the inclusion of excluded groups.
Over the past few decades, recognized street medicine programs are becoming much more prevalent in the United States and overseas. As part of this vital growth, street medicine fellowships have been established to train the next generation of leaders in this developing field.
The UPMC Mercy Street Medicine Fellowship is a one-year program that will support the fellow in developing expert level street medicine skills under the direction of James Withers, MD, Danielle Schnauber Jones, NP, and the staff of Pittsburgh Mercy’s Operation Safety Net. In coordination with the Street Medicine Institute, the fellow will visit other street medicine programs in the global network to explore the emergent conceptual framework of the field of street medicine. At the completion of the year, the fellow will have the knowledge and competency to practice street medicine and create a quality street medicine program anywhere in the United States. The goal is to develop the street medicine fellow as a leader in both clinical excellence and advocacy.
Dr. Withers founded the UPMC Mercy Street Medicine Fellowship in 2020, and it is the first such fellowship in the nation. The fellowship was created in collaboration with Pittsburgh Mercy’s Operation Safety Net, which serves as the primary arena for the street medicine experience. Prior fellows have brought their backgrounds in emergency medicine and primary care, and used the fellowship as a launching point to careers in homeless healthcare.
Previous fellows include:
The core activities of the UPMC Mercy Street Medicine Fellowship will be the practice of street medicine, research and quality improvement projects, teaching of medical students and residents, leadership development, and advocacy. There is flexibility in the curriculum to enable the fellow to achieve their individualized goals. Access to the global leadership of the field will be accomplished through the Street Medicine Institute and participation at the annual International Street Medicine Symposium.
A particular emphasis of the fellowship is the interface of care between the unsheltered population and the hospital systems of Pittsburgh. These areas include:
The UPMC Street Medicine Fellowship runs from July 1 through June 30.
Applications will be accepted from May through November 15 of the year prior to the fellowship start date. We encourage applicants to reach out at any time to express interest and ask questions prior to applying.
Applicants will be considered who have completed residency in Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, Emergency Medicine or Physical Medicine &Rehabilitation. Applicants must provide the following:
Those who are selected will participate in a virtual interview with leadership staff. Following this, invitations may be extended to visit Pittsburgh for a 2-day period to see the program and to be interviewed by the director and key staff members.
Those interested in the UPMC Street Medicine Fellowship are invited to contact the associate program director, Anita Leon-Jhong, MD, at lyonsab@upmc.edu.
