Empowering Future Physicians Through the Human Dimension Program
November 20, 2024
Carin and Roger Ehrenberg have pledged $3 million for the support and expansion of the Human Dimension curriculum that is a hallmark program at the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine.
A previous $1 million gift from the couple helped establish the groundbreaking three-year program that provides service-learning experiences and curriculum for medical students to better understand patients by taking into account the social and personal factors that have an impact on health and wellness.
“It’s a chance to rethink medical education and do it in a humanistic and empathetic way,” says Carin, who is a clinical psychologist. Roger, an entrepreneur and investor, said the approach is better for the bottom line too, as it creates health solutions that can negate the need for expensive and invasive acute care. “Empathetic and holistic care is good economics, and this kind of intervention is far more cost-effective and inventive,” says Roger.
Medical students examine so-called determinants of health including social policy, access to services, environment, behavior, biology and genetics. They meet patients where they live, and work on projects in their communities. Since the school opened in 2018, nearly 600 students have cared for as many families in nine communities, partnering with organizations across five counties.
The latest gift allows for a pilot to expand the Human Dimensions program to residents in graduate medical education programs throughout the HMH system.
“This gift helps create future physicians who can practice medicine differently,” says Sheila Wolfinger, executive director at the School of Medicine. “The program is at the heart of the school’s curriculum and has become a model for promoting context and compassion in addition to competence.The Ehrenbergs have been generous supporters of the School of Medicine, and the fact that they’ve made a gift of this significance is really wonderful - they are invested and can see the impact of the program.”
Carin’s childhood friend, Larry Rosen, M.D., is assistant director of the Human Dimensions program and an assistant professor of pediatrics at the School of Medicine. Dr. Rosen and the Ehrenbergs had long discussed the need for a more integrative approach to medicine.
Students are paired with patients and their families over an extended period, which allows for a broader longitudinal perspective. It empowers both the students and patients to become better health advocates.
The program has become a national model, Sheila says. “The health-care community is paying attention. It’s really making an impact.”
The Ehrenbergs, who have homes in Manhattan and Red Bank, met while students at the University of Michigan, where they also are involved philanthropically. The couple’s adult sons, Andrew and Ethan, also are alumni.
Roger is founder and managing partner of Eberg Capital, which has franchise stakes in several sports teams including the Miami Marlins. He is a longtime investor in technology start-ups, real estate and public equities.
Roger’s role as an entrepreneur, where disruption is a big part of launching successful startups, fits nicely with the couple’s involvement in the Human Dimensions curriculum, Carin says. “This is a unique opportunity to disrupt medical education.”
We are so grateful to the Ehrenbergs for their continued support of the School of Medicine, and know that their support is helping us create more compassionate physicians. To make a gift in support of the Human Dimension program, visit GiveHMH.org/SchoolofMedicine or contact Sheila Wolfinger at sheila.wolfinger@hmhn.org.
