Fatima Al Rashed

Serena Zhang

Raju Lakhani

Reciprocity Membership Officer

Rashell Deras

EMT Class Membership Officer

<p>The University of Pennsylvania Medical Emergency Response Team (MERT) is a student-run service organization providing emergency medical services to the University community. The primary purpose of the organization is to complement the emergency medical care provided by the University of Pennsylvania Police Department (UPPD) and the Philadelphia Fire Department (PFD) by providing professional, timely, and high-quality pre-hospital treatment. The secondary purpose of the organization is to provide training and education to students and the community.</p>

Micaela Alpert

Membership Officer

Community Outreach Officer

Bella Barbosa

Benita Cui

Administrative Director

Bilal Elfayoumi

Training Lieutenant

Christopher Capiola

Quality Assurance Lieutenant

Danielle Palmer

Captain

Fiona Larsson

Equipment Officer

Jennifer Guo

Bicycle Officer

Julia Smolyak

Internal Technology Officer

Mikeely Siegel

Disaster Response Team Officer

Nikolai Curtis

Scheduling Officer

Yash Rajpal

Standby Officer

Aditi Singh

Member

Akinkunmi Adio

Alex Lu

Alexandra Rizaldi

Amelie Warneryd

Camille Quaye

Catherine Buren

Chimere Nnadi

Cindy Li

Daly Dedyo

Dana Shulman

David Kato

Anonymous

Dylan Bellissimo-Meade

Elliot Kim

Graham Branscom

Ian Paez

James Tang

Jane Foster

Jennifer Kang

Julia Pfrommer

June Ahn

Junwon Kim

Kaan Oral

Kaitlyn Szot

Katrina Liu

Kira Lu

Leilei Hao

Lily Yan

Majd Ayyad

Mara Rao

Max Yang

Olakanmi Adio

Olivia Rivellini

Randy Bach

Ryan Sathianathen

Sam May

Sarah Maghraoui

Shannon Zheng

Sofia Kaparis

Sophie Levin

Srikar Yelamarthy

William Han

Medical Emergency Response Team (MERT)

More Than EMS

MERT gave me the clinical confidence and team-based approach to medicine that I still practice to this day.
-Dr. Joshua Glick, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine; MERT Medical Director; MERT Chief '09

Some of the least "cutthroat pre-professional" people at Penn I met as part of arguably the most pre-professional/career-oriented student group on campus.  MERT was the most significant, and long-lasting community I got the chance to be a part of while at Penn.  I think back and remember so many fun times (on-duty or off), not to mention learning so much from each other as a group, during our many late nights (again -- on-duty, or off...!). MERT is the group of people I've stayed most strongly in-touch with since Penn
-MERT '15

I gained some of my closest friends through MERT, as well as current colleagues in medicine and role models.  I am so grateful for the network we have and am so happy that many of us have stayed in touch. 
-MERT Chief '15

The leadership experience that I gained as a part of MERT has been equal to or more important than anything I learned in a classroom at Penn. I am currently leading an anesthesia department of 40+ providers through the COVID pandemic, and I am doing so confidently (even as one of the youngest members of the department) - because of the leadership skills that I honed as a part of MERT.  MERT is unique in the volume of opportunities it offers to gain leadership experience.  First, there are many roles needed to support the overall mission, which creates opportunities to lead in areas like equipment, training, operations etc. Second, each call is an opportunity to develop leadership skills.  As members progress from being a junior EMT to crew chief, they have the ability to not only to develop confidence in their clinical skills but also their ability to lead under pressure.  
-MERT '09

I loved my time on MERT and think it really helped me land jobs to be able to talk about that experience. In Wharton OCR interviews, I would often take a MERT shift the night before as good karma. And not only did it give me confidence and good luck, but I would be able to mention it to the interviewers, and talk about how we have to make quick decisions with a lot of pressure. I didn't say it, but they arrived at the conclusion that it was relevant for the job to which I was applying. 
-MERT Captain '11

MERT was by far the highlight of my college years - it taught me leadership, friendship, how to stay calm in an emergency, and frankly how to be an adult. I am extremely proud to be a member of one of the first MERT classes, and I can confidently state that my experiences in MERT contributed heavily to my future success in medicine (and life). I sincerely appreciate all that my former classmates taught me.
-MERT '10

MERT was the reason I added nursing to my Wharton degree and fell in love with emergency medicine. It prompted me to enter the dual-degree program and change my whole career path!

-MERT '13

Each year, MERT receives applications from students in the College, Nursing, SEAS, Wharton, and Penn's graduate schools. As such, people's reasons for wanting to joining MERT vary drastically, from wanting to gain significant clinical experience as future healthcare providers to wanting to gain leadership and decision-making skills as professionals in other fields. The one common reason for joining MERT that all MERT members share however, is their desire to help others. MERT is one of the most dedicated, tight-knit groups at Penn because of that. The thing I like to tell people about the MERT community is this: when you hear the radio go off at 3 in the morning for a call on the other side of campus, you spring out of bed without hesitation. The call might be for a minor scrape or something more serious like a heart attack — it doesn't matter — you respond with the same urgency. And whether you just woke up in the middle of the night for a paper cut or for something serious that requires acute care and teamwork, the best thing about MERT is that you're doing so alongside some of your best friends at Penn. Because when you're going through stuff like that on a weekly basis, it's nearly impossible to not become close with the people you're doing it with.

Medical Emergency Response Team (MERT) Alumni