Our program is committed to patient advocacy and ardently supports initiatives to improve the health of local, regional and international communities through direct patient care, development of policy & healthcare strategy, and research. During residency, trainees are provided opportunities to positively impact our local community. Residents can address local healthcare disparities in many ways including seeing patients at migrant farm worker clinics or working with Food Gatherers, a local food rescue program focused on preventing local food insecurity. We also support residents who wish to extend their experiences more broadly within the United States through rotations at sites supported by the Indian Health Service (IHS) or Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
Pediatric residents also can participate in a number of international health care experiences working with faculty involved in various longstanding global collaborations. These include experiences in Ethiopia, Ghana, Uganda, China and Nicaragua. The resident-run Residents and Fellows Global Health Equity group offers house officers a collaborative environment which supports the development of global health and health disparities education, research and clinical opportunities and offers a certificate program for interested residents. Residents are also able to join the Healthcare Equity and Quality Scholars Program, which is a 10-month longitudinal healthcare disparities curriculum.