The Katz School of Medicine  encourages and supports broad service involvement through more than 50 student-run groups, including the Student Government Association.  

Temple Emergency Action Corps (TEAC) 
Train in disaster response so you can join the team to mobilize during local, national, or international emergencies and provide basic medical care to those affected. 

Temple Emergency Action Corps – Outreach to the Homeless (TEACH)  
Work with residents of the One Day at a Time (ODAAT) shelter for individuals experiencing homelessness. 

Latino Medical Student Association 
Participate in screenings and blood drives. 

South Asian Health Student Association 
Learn about South Asian culture through ongoing events, conferences, and a speakers’ seminar. 

Babcock Surgical Society 
The longest established student group at the School of Medicine provides opportunities for job shadowing and learning about life as a surgeon. 

Big Friends 
Tutor and mentor children at the Kenderton Elementary School, located in the School of Medicine’s backyard. 

Pediatric Interest Group 
Yearly service opportunity at Camp Boggy Creek. 

American Medical Student Association 
Lobby in Harrisburg and Washington, D.C., to promote awareness of current health policy issues. 

Student National Medical Association 
Learn about policy initiatives and community programs related to people who are under-represented in medicine. 

TachyChordia 
Katz’s a-capella group builds a strong sense of community through concerts and other celebrations. 

Cardiovascular Interest Group  
Provides Katz students with an opportunity to work with and educate the surrounding North Philadelphia community about cardiovascular disease and preventive medicine. 

Habitat for Humanity 
The Temple University Medical School Chapter of Habitat for Humanity is an unincorporated student-run, student-led organization that performs three main functions: building or rehabilitating houses in partnership with the Philadelphia Habitat affiliate and homeowners; educating the campus and local community about affordable housing issues and the work of Habitat for Humanity; and raising funds for the work of Habitat. 

KnOWLedge—Virtual Tutoring 
knOWLedge is to provide educational support and extracurricular engagement for the children of essential workers through virtual media. 

OwLGBTQ in Medicine 
OwLGBTQ+ and Allies in Medicine promotes LGBTQ+ education and inclusiveness at Katz . The organization’s goal is to improve the quality of healthcare for LGBTQ+ patients, as well as the conditions for LGBTQ+ medical students, physicians, and healthcare workers. 

Philly (Temple) RISE 
Remote Interpersonal Student Education augments online education for students in the Philadelphia school district through mentorship and tutoring. 

The Temple Street Medicine Organization (T-SMO)  
T-SMO provides students an opportunity to learn about healthcare experiences and outcomes of the transiently housed and street homeless populations in the city of Philadelphia and volunteer amongst other students and healthcare providers as an outreach team, providing supplies and care as needed to rough-sleeping populations as prescribed by the Street Medicine Model. 

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White Coat Ceremony
The White Coat Ceremony, initiated in 1993 at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons with the support of the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, has become common practice in US medical schools. The ceremony is a rite of passage for first year medical students, designed to inculcate the values of professionalism, humanism and compassionate patient care. It is the official welcome to the medical profession and to the Temple family.

In the ceremony, students are "cloaked" in their first white coats in the presence of family members, friends and school faculty. The program includes greetings by medical school deans, explorations of the meaning of professionalism by an array of speakers representing the perspectives of medical school faculty, alumni, the community, patients and ethicists, and taking of an oath based upon the 1948 Declaration of Geneva.

For students, it provides a vivid realization that they are, in fact, medical students and future physicians and serves as a rite of passage into the profession of medicine.               

Residency Match Day
Match Day, an exciting tradition at medical schools across the US, takes place in March and is filled with anticipation for fourth year students at the School of Medicine. The Dean leads students and their families in a countdown to 12:00 noon, when fourth year medical students simultaneously open envelopes to discover where they have matched for residency. The event takes place in the Stone Commons of the Medical Education Research Building and kicks off with an assembly for the fourth year class to gather and build excitement.        

Awards Day
Held prior to graduation each year, the awards day event honors outstanding faculty members and students for special achievement. The event is attended by several hundred students, faculty, family and friends.  

Outstanding scholars, future leaders, skilled teachers, compassionate caregivers, promising researchers and even “scary smart people” as one presenter humorously put it – all were honored at the Awards Day Ceremony.  

Commencement
Commencement is a momentous occasion in the lives of our students and their families; a time to celebrate accomplishments in medical school and the transition to future opportunities. The Commencement ceremony for Lewis Katz School of Medicine is held each May at the Kimmel Center for Performing Arts in Philadelphia.

This comprehensive, hands-on enrichment program provides students with global clinical and research opportunities, which can be life changing and career inspiring. Experiences include 

• primary preventative healthcare, 

• emergency disaster care, 

• early clinical exposure to global medicine leaders, and 

• international service and research experiences 

First- and second-year students may take disaster and global medicine electives to prepare them for service experiences both domestically and abroad. Electives include workshops, lectures, clinical skill sessions and an interactive field wilderness medicine experience.  

The first international clinical experience often occurs the summer following the first year of medical school. They work abroad with attending physicians in Africa, Asia, Central America and South America. Experiences include 

• caring directly for international patients, 

• participating in observational research studies, and 

• exploring the culture and natural environment. 

Third- and fourth-year medical students interested in a wide range of clinical and research-related goals can undertake clinical rotations at more than a dozen affiliated medical schools on five continents  and at other institutions, if they so desire.  

During these experiences abroad, students develop medical skills in a treatment environment that is quite different from ours, including areas with limited available medical resources. They gain a broader understanding of medical operations internationally and expand their language skills (typically Spanish), as well as enhancing their teaching and leadership skills by assisting with first- and second-year student projects. 

Doctoring is a 2-year sequence of learning activities that introduce and refine the critical skills necessary for patient assessment and the concepts necessary to practice medicine in contemporary society.

At the Lewis Katz School of Medicine (LKSOM), students are grouped in seven Doctoring Colleges, each of which is named for a distinguished faculty member of LKSOM. Each Doctoring College is an academic community within LKSOM that has a consistent group of faculty and peers for learning activities throughout medical school.

W. Wayne Babcock College
W. Wayne Babcock, MD (1872 - 1963), surgical innovator, educator, and author, became Chair of Surgery at Temple in 1903 and taught here for 45 years. 

Dr. Babcock earned worldwide recognition for pioneering the usage of spinal anesthesia and stainless-steel sutures, for developing and popularizing surgical procedures, and for inventing eponymous surgical instruments (e.g., Babcock forceps, Babcock drain).

Babcock's Principles and Practice of Surgery was the authoritative text in surgery through the 1950s and 60s.

Thomas M. Durant College
Thomas Durant, MD (1905 – 1977) joined the Temple faculty in 1936 and served as Chair of Medicine from 1956 to 1966. He made notable contributions in electrocardiography, contrast visualization, and the dynamics of circulation and respiration. Dr. Durant was considered a consummate diagnostician.

Dr. Durant held numerous high-level posts in his career. In addition to his service to Temple, Dr. Durant was chair of the American Board of Internal Medicine, president of the American Federation for Clinical Research, and president of the American College of Physicians.

Dawn B. Marks College
Beloved for her devotion to students and passion for teaching, Dawn B. Marks, PhD (1937 - 2000) joined the Department of Biochemistry at Temple in 1968 and served as Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies from 1984 to 1998. Dr. Marks developed innovative teaching techniques in biochemistry and molecular biology, always grounding concepts in practical applications in clinical medicine.  Dr. Marks was honored with numerous teaching awards during her career.

Dr. Marks’ signature professional achievement was publication of Review of Biochemistry (1990). The textbook was the gold standard in undergraduate and medical school classrooms, and remains the foundation for all contemporary biochemistry texts. Clinical adaptations of Dr. Marks’ texts are still published and edited by Temple faculty. 

Waldo Nelson College
A true giant in the field of pediatrics, Waldo E. Nelson, MD (1898 - 1997) came to Temple in 1940 and chaired the Department of Pediatrics for 24 years.  He also served as Director of St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, bringing it to prominence as a regional referral center. 

Dr. Nelson gained worldwide fame as the editor of the Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics, better known as the “Green Bible.” Now in its 19th edition, the text remains the definitive pediatric medicine reference and has been translated into dozens of languages.

Agnes Montier College
Agnes Parham Berry Montier, MD was the first African American woman to graduate from the Lewis Katz School of Medicine in 1912.  She practiced General Medicine in Philadelphia for 50 years and was recognized as an accomplished surgeon.  She was an attending physician at Douglas Hospital and Samaritian Hospital which later became Temple University Hospital.  She also served as the medical examiner for the Elks.  Dr. Montier was the founding member of the Omega Chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.  She was the first African American female physician to teach nutrition classes in Philadelphia public schools- the only classes open to African Americans in the city of Philadelphia.  Dr. Montier was an accomplished cellist and promoted including musical training as a way to teach future physicians to listen and observe.

Charles Saunders College
Charles D. Saunders, MD, has been a member of the St. Luke’s Hospital and Health Network since 1974. He has been an active and outstanding urologist there for over 3 decades.

Dr. Saunders is a skillful and caring physician, known for his compassion. He is widely praised by his patients and deeply respected by his colleagues. Dr. Saunders exemplifies “Doctoring”.

Dr. Saunders has held many positions at St. Luke’s. He was Chief of Urology, Acting Chief of Surgery, Senior Vice President of Medical and Academic Affairs, President of the St. Luke’s Medical Staff, a member of the Board of Trustees at St. Luke’s Hospital and Health Network, and president Northampton County Medical Society. Dr. Saunders is currently Chair of the St. Luke’s Allentown Hospital Board of Trustees, and Vice Chair of the St. Luke’s Hospital and Health Network Board.

Sol Sherry College
A titan in the field of thrombosis, Sol Sherry, MD (1916 - 1993) served as Chair of Medicine at Temple from 1968 to 1984. He was Dean of the School of Medicine from 1984 to 1986, and founded the Thrombosis Research Center which now bears his name. 

Dr. Sherry revolutionized medicine through his pioneering work in thrombolytic therapy. He was personally responsible for developing streptokinase as the first “clot-busting” drug. Similar lytics are now widely used to treat stroke, myocardial infarction, and pulmonary embolism.

Dr. Sherry founded the Council on Thrombosis of the American Heart Association and the International Society of Thrombosis and Hemostasis.