Page 20 - Delaware Medical Journal - July/August 2019

earmarked for small scholarships to help offset the cost of education. Discussions are underway to enhance this program, as well as research with the Delaware Health Care Commission on how to optimize
the Student Loan Repayment Program (SLRP).
NEXT STEPS: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
DIMER has thus far relied on self- motivated students to apply to medical school. We have begun now to partner actively with undergraduate institutions school applicants. It is particularly important to the DIMER board that incoming medical school classes represent Delaware in all its diversity and geographical characteristics.
The major challenges nationwide in medical education revolve around cost. This directly affects recruitment and retention
of physicians in Delaware. While there exists an SLRP, it will be important in the
Left to right: Hamani R. Divatia, DO, Associate Program Director of Med/Peds; Jack Qiu, fourth-year SKMC; Zack Lorenz, fourth-year SKMC; David Cohen, MD (Infectious Disease)
future to consider tuition offsets and robust incentives to recruit and retain students in Delaware.5 These programs can be tied to current specialties of need, such as primary care, women’s health, and behavioral health, as well as other important emerging areas of future need such as hospital medicine and general surgery.6
It is estimated that the median debt for attending medical school was $200,000 in 2018 and as high as $300,000 for private medical institutions.7 Currently, the Health Care Commission, DIMER, and other key health-care stakeholders are developing a new student loan repayment plan that will better meet
Reflection: How the DIMER Program
Shaped This Physician’s Career • By Ashley Panichelli, MD
Left to right: Anna Filip, MD; Ashley Panichelli, MD; Erin Kavanaugh, MD.
Ican still remember getting the
call. I was standing in the organic chemistry lab, waiting for the Organic
Chemistry 1 class to finish up the reduction of an unknown compound, when I received a call from a phone number with a 215 area code. I
had recently interviewed at Thomas Jefferson University’s Sidney Kimmel Medical College (SKMC), and I knew I should be hearing soon about my admission status. Dean Callahan left a voicemail (that I still have to this day!) alerting me to my admission to medical school, and just like that, my medical and DIMER career began.
From the beginning of my medical journey, the DIMER program served
as a crucial ally, propelling and shaping my career. I was born and raised in New Castle, Delaware. After graduating from high school at St. Andrew’s School, I traveled to Vermont to pursue my undergraduate degree
at Middlebury College. As I began
to investigate medical schools, I found out about the DIMER program. Through my research I learned that
as a Delaware resident, the DIMER program would support me financially, while also improving my chances of getting into a medical school near
my hometown. After spending time away from my community, I knew that
I wanted to return home for my future education and career and, from what
164 Del Med J | July/August 2019 | Vol. 91 | No. 4