Community and academic partnerships to train community responsive physicians

Intro: With a HRSA health professions training grant in 2010, the University of Cincinnati / Christ Hospital Family Medicine Residency program started training twenty-four family medicine residents to be community responsive physicians. Through community partnerships, residents have clinical and community health training with one of 2 federally-qualified health centers or a prenatal clinic for uninsured/ Medicaid-covered women. The curriculum focuses on three areas: the determinants of health, community partnered projects and effective communication skills. Methods: At the start of their second-year of residency, family medicine residents begin patient care with one of the underserved clinical sites. Each month, residents receive didactics related to the determinants of health, patient and community communication and community-based participatory research. Working in groups with faculty and community partners, the residents define and assess their community, selecting a quality improvement or education project that is completed and evaluated over the next two years. Residents also assess their communication skills with patients and the community and the determinants of health of these patients. Results: The first cohort of residents will complete the curriculum in June. Project outcomes include a smoking cessation curriculum for MA's, developing diabetic templates and creating patient and resident education curricula for the prenatal care. Curriculum evaluation using surveys, interviews, and focus groups with all stakeholders documented improved comprehension of the determinants and value to the partnerships. Discussion: Developing academic-community partnerships to train resident physicians is feasible and beneficial for the community and trainees, and prepares physicians to address future community health needs.