Daphne Owen at the 2017 Philadelphia premiere of “Clinica de Migrantes,” the HBO documentary about Puentes de Salud.
Daphne Owen, MD, a third year resident in Emergency Medicine at HUP, received the 2018 Next Generation Leader Award from the United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey. The award is given to a woman under 35 years old who has not only accomplished exemplary professional success, but also shares a deep commitment to give, advocate, and volunteer. Given Owen’s professional and volunteer history, it is a perfect fit.
In 2009, Owen came east from California to complete a post-baccalaureate degree. Wanting to continue outreach efforts that she started in college, she connected with Puentes de Salud, a non-profit which serves South Philadelphia’s rapidly growing Latino immigrant population. With her ability to speak Spanish and an undergrad degree in sociology with a focus on poverty and social justice issues, “I was looking for a place that not only provides health care, but also thinks about social determinants of health issues,” she said. Puentes checked all the boxes!
She started as a greeter for patients, but by the following year – a year before starting at the Perelman School of Medicine – Owen developed an after-school education program (Puentes Hacia el Futuro), helping children with their homework two days a week. Although medical school – and residency – would limit her time, she continued to oversee the program’s growth. Today, thanks to “bringing in the right people to take the program forward,” the program has grown to five days a week and expanded to include a summer reading program for elementary school kids, an empowerment/leadership group for girls, and a new sex-ed program.
Over the years, Owen continued her onsite volunteering at Puentes as well, seeing patients in the clinic both as a med student and now as a resident. In January she took on another volunteer role: assistant medical director. “I am responsible for recruiting and credentialing new volunteer doctors and nurse practitioner providers, and am also working with medical student volunteers. I want to make this a better experience for them, to make sure the students are doing things that are good for them and for our patients.”
Owen said her connection with Puentes has kept her in Philadelphia, and this is where she wants to stay. “I could have returned to California for medical school, but I couldn’t leave the program. I knew the work would be important to me as part of my medical education and I want to keep doing it.”