Joseph Kern, MD, MSHP is a recent graduate of the Penn National Clinician Scholars Program (’24-’26), and a current General Surgery resident pursuing a career as a Trauma Surgeon dedicated to addressing the socioeconomic needs of the patients he treats. Born and raised in Chicago, he pursued his undergraduate degree in Neuroscience from the University of Pittsburgh, before moving to Zambia to serve as a Community Health Volunteer for the United States Peace Corps. Upon the completion of his service, he returned home to Chicago, where he obtained his medical degree from the University of Chicago, found his way to the field of General Surgery, and further developed his commitment to community and service.
While at Penn he was worked primarily with Dr. Elinore Kaufman in the Division of Traumatology, Surgical Critical Care, and Emergency Surgery, and his academic and scholarly pursuits have focused on understanding how health systems can better support the socioeconomic needs of violently injured patients. He has particular interest in housing as a potentially modifiable lever through which to improve clinical and socioeconomic outcomes for patients. His work has also explored the role of in-hospital Medicaid insurance enrollment on access to care following unexpected hospital admissions, and he is currently collaborating with faculty in the Penn Department of General Internal Medicine on a pilot feasibility study geared towards connecting newly Medicaid-insured surgical patients to primary care and chronic disease management.
