Penn Medicine doctor innovates with new ways to save lives inside and outside of hospital
An inspirational leader at Penn Medicine is ensuring that Philadelphia's underserved community gets the care it needs. Penn Medicine has one of the busiest emergency departments in the region, and in the center of the action is Dr. Raina Merchant.
"In emergency medicine, it's all about the team," Merchant said.
The Penn Medicine doctor added that it's more than taking care of sick and injured people in Philadelphia. For her, it's about providing health care to people who don't have access.
"So a really important part of emergency medicine is that we want to be the hospital and the care provision for everyone," she said, adding she's always been interested in medicine and was inspired by her father, who was a surgeon.
At Penn, it's not just about emergency medicine.
"I'm also the chief transformation officer for the health system," Merchant said. "So I get to work on how do we think about designing the health system of the future? How can we make care more efficient and accessible for patients?"
Accessibility, of all kinds, is always on her mind. Merchant led a city-wide effort to identify locations for automated external defibrillators (AEDs), that are all over the city.
"This is a lifesaver, and everybody should feel comfortable and know how to use one," she said.
Merchant helped create the MyHeartMap Challenge, a comprehensive AED map in Philadelphia.
"As soon as you open it, it has a picture on it that's really easy and tells you where to begin," she said. "We need all hands on deck for health care to fight some of the biggest challenges that we're facing."
In a busy and ever-evolving field like medicine, Merchant said she feels lucky to have been mentored by so many incredible and inspiring women and has advice for women looking to get into the field.
"Medicine is a fantastic career," she said. "So, I would say that we need everyone to help us think about how to make health care better, and for women, this is an incredible career and opportunity to have an impact and save lives."
