Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #109112

Quimby E. McCaskill, MD, MPH¹, Nancy L. Winterbauer, PhD, MS², Elisa Zenni, MD¹, and Jeff Goldhagen, MD, MPH³. (1) Department of Pediatrics, University of Florida, 655 W. 8th Street, Jacksonville, FL 32209, 904.821.9082, quimby.mccaskill@jax.ufl.edu, (2) Institute for Health, Policy and Evaluation Research, Duval County Health Department, 900 University Blvd, North, Suite 604, Jacksonville, FL 32211, (3) Duval County Health Department, University of Florida, Duval County Health Department, 515 W 6th St, Jacksonville, FL 32206

While various disciplines have promoted social justice, equity, and advocacy within their educational curricula, only recently have these concepts emerged in residency training. The University of Florida/Jacksonville has developed a longitudinal model for integrating these concepts into its Pediatrics training program. Using didactic and experiential activities, residents learn about:

• The importance of community involvement in health care delivery and promotion • The impact of key social determinants upon the health of children • The power of advocacy at the local, state and federal level in shaping public policy

Didactic elements of the curriculum include conference(s) on poverty, social justice, children's rights and equity, advocacy, international health, and cultural competence. Residents are taught about advocating for children at the local and state level and become familiar with the legislative process, including ways to utilize media in advocacy initiatives. Moreover, this model expands the scope of traditional residency programs by rotating residents through an outpatient clinic in a local public health department where they interact with lawyers, anthropologists, epidemiologists and other interdisciplinary members of the teaching faculty engaged in social justice issues. Finally, residents work with faculty and community mentors to implement and evaluate a community-based intervention. Although structural challenges remain, initial findings suggest a better understanding of these issues among all levels of training, as well as an increase in residency applicants desiring an education in these topics. We believe this curricular model represents one way to increase physician knowledge of issues related to social justice, equity and advocacy.

Learning Objectives:

• List advantages of training Pediatricians in social justice, equity, and advocacy
• Describe elements of an integrated, longitudinal curriculum for teaching social justice, equity, and advocacy in a Pediatrics residency program
• Identify challenges to implementing nontraditional curricula in residency training programs

Keywords: Advocacy, Community-Oriented Primary Care

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation