Jen Rosenberg Keim ’06 Inspires Pre-Med Club with a Career Rooted in Science, Service, and Compassion

Jen offered meaningful insight into the medical field, the importance of compassionate care, and the realities of working with children and families in the foster care system.

 

Jen’s interest in medicine began at Friends, where she earned the Robert P. Hukill Science Award, took IB Higher Level science courses, and was deeply drawn to classes such as Peace, Justice, and Social Change. She also had early exposure to clinical work through informal shadowing and a summer program at UCLA, experiences that helped solidify her desire to pursue a career grounded in service and advocacy.

 

After graduating from WFS, Jen attended Muhlenberg College, majoring in biochemistry with a minor in public health. Her college years included volunteering at a clinic, studying public health abroad in South Africa, and spending a summer working with the ambulance corps in Israel. 

 

She went on to earn a combined MD/MPH degree from Drexel University College of Medicine, with a concentration in Community Health and Prevention. Jen volunteered at a free clinic and completed the Bridging the Gaps summer program working with a refugee resettlement agency.

 

Jen completed her pediatric residency at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, where a rotation in Child Abuse Pediatrics sparked an unexpected interest in foster-care–related work. That experience ultimately led her to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Since 2018, she has been an attending physician at the CHOP Karabots Pediatric Care Center, where she provides outpatient pediatric care—check-ups, sick visits, vaccines, developmental screenings, mental health and reproductive-health visits—and also teaches medical students and residents.

 

Her curiosity evolved into a passion that shaped her specialty: caring for children in foster care. As Medical Director of the ACTION Foster Care Clinic, Jen oversees enhanced primary-care services for this special-needs population. The clinic provides dedicated sessions tailored to the unique needs of children in foster care, including trauma and resilience screening. Since its launch in 2020, the program has seen more than 200 new patients and continues to expand its educational mission for providers, residents, and medical students across the CHOP network.

 

Jen also volunteers as a camp physician for Rooted Kinections – an organization that brings together siblings affected by foster care. Volunteering at camp combines her professional expertise, her dedication to service, and her love and nostalgia for summer camp.

 

Reflecting on her journey, Jen told students that the interests they hold now will shape their future careers, though perhaps not in ways they expect. She emphasized that service, justice, and empathy are not extras in medicine; they are essential, especially for those who hope to see and serve “the whole child and the whole community.”

 

We are grateful to Jen and to all WFS alumni who return to campus to uplift the next generation of Quaker scholars and changemakers. If any alumnus or current student would like to learn more about Jen’s work, they are welcome to contact the Alumni Office to connect.