Carlo Comia (DO ’24), right, joins fellow APEx Executive Board members at their "Evening
with Executives" event.
On Thursday, December 8, 2022, 16 students from PCOM attended the “Evening with Executives” event presented by Aspiring Physician Executives (APEx). APEx is a student-run, Philadelphia-based organization that works to diversify the next generation of top-level healthcare leaders by empowering medical students with the mindset, skills and network to lead health systems in a patient-centric manner.
Carlo Comia (DO ’24) is one of the organization's founding members on its inaugural executive board. He helped to organize the event and served as a co-moderator for the panel. When asked what he hoped to gain from the event and the organization, he shared, “I'd like to learn from mentors who are making waves in health care from an administrative standpoint, as well as meet medical students from other schools who have a similar passion for increasing diversity in medicine. Opportunities like these don't come along very often in our medical training, so I'm hoping all attendees, myself included, can take advantage!”
The event was hosted by the Independence Blue Cross Foundation and the Institute for Health Equity at the IBX Live Building in Downtown Philadelphia. Over 80 people were registered for the event, including medical students, faculty, and healthcare executives. The event consisted of a networking reception and panel with executives from Inspira Health, Independence Blue Cross and Oak Street Health. Students used this opportunity to connect with the executives and learn more about opportunities for innovation in leadership beyond and alongside clinical practice.
Since its formation in November 2021, APEx has grown to include students from across all the Philadelphia medical schools. The organization was formed with the vision of creating “a diverse cohort of aspiring physician executives that will represent their patient voices in business decisions through responsible innovation at every level within health systems.” APEx was recently able to secure a partnership with Independence Blue Cross and hopes to expand to the greater Philadelphia region and beyond.
For the past 125 years, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) has trained thousands of highly competent, caring physicians, health practitioners and behavioral scientists who practice a “whole person” approach to care—treating people, not just symptoms. PCOM, a private, not-for-profit accredited institution of higher education, operates three campuses (PCOM, PCOM Georgia and PCOM South Georgia) and offers doctoral degrees in clinical psychology, educational psychology, osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, physical therapy, and school psychology. The college also offers graduate degrees in applied behavior analysis, applied positive psychology, biomedical sciences, forensic medicine, medical laboratory science, mental health counseling, physician assistant studies, and school psychology. PCOM students learn the importance of health promotion, research, education and service to the community. Through its community-based Healthcare Centers, PCOM provides care to medically underserved populations. For more information, visit pcom.edu or call 215-871-6100.
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