Advocacy
Our
program realizes that pediatric care involves more than the one-on-one
interactions in the hospital or clinic. Our faculty pediatricians are strong
advocates at local, state, and national levels, and we work to encourage and
foster those same beliefs and skills in the residents. Our advocacy
curriculum was initially designed by Dr. Jane Foy, a national leader in
advocacy and mental health.
Our
residency program has been recognized locally and nationally for leadership in
advocacy through several grant awards:
In
2015 Dr. Betsy Browder, Dr. Bonnie McTyre and Dr. Haley Johnson earned the Anne
E. Dyson Child Advocacy Award for their AAP project, Child health Workshops for
New Teachers.
In
2015, our residency program was awarded an AAP Community Pediatric Partnerships
for Child Well Being grant, funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. The
SPRING Campaign: Support, Prevention, and Resilience build-ING for pregnant and
parenting teens emphasizes genuine partnership between medical homes and
community organizations focused on prevention of repeat teen pregnancy, support
of healthy teen pregnancy, and promotion of parent-child bonding and resilience
among teen parents.
In
2015, Dr. Christina Thuet (Class of 2015) and Dr. Katie Carlin were awarded a
CATCH grant for their project, Fostering Health Care Initiative, to build a
sustainable foster care medical home model at the county level.
Three
of our residents have been recognized by the Childress Institute for Pediatric
Trauama as “Childress Scholars.” They
have received generous funding from the Childress Institute for Pediatric
Trauma for their advocacy projects.
- Dr. Laura Shashy
(Class of 2017): Car Seat Safety
- Drs. Magali Calfee (Class
of 2016) and Austen Carter (Class of 2016, Chief 2016-17): Water Safety and
Education
In
2013, Dr. Abby Peters (Class of 2014) and Dr. Elizabeth Reichard (Class of
2015) were awarded a CATCH grant for their project, The Pediatric Medical Home:
Access and Quality. This project has since been transformed into an ongoing
medical home initiative that extends throughout our continuity clinic and
chronic care curricula.
Community Plunge
Our
advocacy program begins during intern orientation with a “Community Plunge.”
During this guided windshield tour of Winston-Salem, new residents not only
identify evidence of many needs in our low-income communities but also
recognize assets, such as churches, community centers, recreation centers,
parks, housing restoration, schools, points of historical pride and
significance, and health and human service agencies. After the tour, residents
participate in focus groups with people who represent special populations,
including teenage mothers, families who prefer to speak Spanish, and caregivers
of children with special health care needs. After gaining their insights can
strengthen our approach to health care and our sensitivity to cultural
differences, new residents participate in a group discussion and reflection
session with members of the faculty.
Continued Advocacy
Our
advocacy curriculum is
integrated throughout residency. During the first year, new residents
participate in the Partnership for a Pediatric Medical Home Site Visit Program
during ambulatory rotations. Resident visits on site to community agencies,
schools, and subspecialty clinics enhance understanding of community health
needs and existing resources.
Academic
sessions, including small group case-based learning sessions, conferences on
core topics related to advocacy, and guest lectures, provide ongoing education
about advocacy. Several online modules have been established to offer selected
reading on core topics related to pediatric advocacy.
- Community health
- Poverty and social
determinants of health
- Legislation and policy
- School health, school
readiness, and child care
- Parenting/child care
- Child abuse and
neglect
- Special populations
- Global health
- Environmental health
Finally,
residents will also have the option of participating in supplemental advocacy
activities, as their schedules and unique interests allow.
Numerous residents have participated in White Coat Wednesday at our State Capital,
and the NC Pediatric Society has funded several residents to attend the annual
AAP Legislative Conference in Washington, DC.
In July 2016, we initiated an exciting collaboration with all eight
NC and SC residency programs, through the AAP Community Pediatrics Training
Initiative, and funded by the Duke Endowment.
Advocacy Projects
Advocacy
projects, which are required for all residents, provide an opportunity for our
residents to recognize an issue close to their hearts and partner with others
to make real and lasting change on behalf of patients and families.
Through
a mentored project, residents will explore relevant resources, stakeholders,
and any existing system change initiatives related to their interest. Residents
will set specific goals with faculty and complete one or more action steps in
relation to their chosen issue.
Recent resident projects include:
- Incorporating
education about basic medical information into orientation for new teachers in
our school system
- Establishing a
pediatric food pantry to tackle food insecurity
- Founding a
county-level collaborative to promote refugee health
Faculty Roles in
Advocacy
Our
pediatric faculty members set the stage for advocacy through their own advocacy
efforts, offering potential mentorship for innovative projects. A few
highlights include the following:
Laurie Albertini, MD, Associate Program Director and the Medical Director of
Pediatrics at the Downtown Health Plaza, has expanded access to care for
children living in poverty in Winston-Salem. Dr. Albertini has been a longstanding champion
of the advocacy curriculum. She recently
engaged in legislative advocacy leading to a ban on the use of tanning beds by
children under 18.
Savithri
Nageswaran, MD, MPH, one of our pediatric hospitalists,
recognized the difficulties of coordinating the medical and non-medical
services for children with complex chronic conditions. With an
interdisciplinary team, she developed an innovative community-based care
coordination program, called the Community-Based Pediatric Enhanced Team (CPECT).
Joey
Skelton, MD, a pediatric
gastroenterologist, collaborated with multiple disciplines to develop Brenner
FIT, to develop one of
the most comprehensive pediatric weight management programs in the country. Gail Cohen, MD,
a general academic pediatrician, collaborates with Dr. Skelton and extends
Brenner FIT’s educational and advocacy opportunities to our continuity clinic.
Avinash
Shetty, MD, Pediatric Infectious
Disease Specialist, has devoted his career to prevention of perinatal HIV in
resource-limited countries. Dr. Shetty serves as the Associate Dean of the
Office of Global Health.
Meggan
Goodpasture, MD, Director of the Child Abuse and Neglect Team at Wake
Forest Baptist Medical Center, currently serves as the chairperson for the NC
Pediatric Society. She directs the child
abuse curriculum that emphasizes the role of child protection in pediatric
care. She is also a project mentor for
our food insecurity and foster care resident advocacy projects.
Daniel
Krowchuk, MD, is a nationally
known expert in general pediatrics, pediatric dermatology, and adolescent
medicine. As the President of the Board
of Directors School Health Alliance, he advocates on behalf of improved health
of children in our school system.
Anna
Miller-Fitzwater, MD, MPH, is a champion of
literacy, school readiness, population health.
The director of our clinic’s Reach Out and Read Program, and she was
recently awarded a prestigious grant from the Academic Pediatric Association to
evaluate the impact of expanding Reach Out and Read to newborns. Dr. Miller-Fitwater also a leader in our local Medicaid care management organization and co-mentors our foster care project.
As
advocacy is an essential role for all pediatricians, each resident develops a project he/she finds to be feasible,
relevant, and personally exciting.
If
you have questions about our advocacy curriculum, please contact us.