Social pediatrics training for pediatric residents: Creation and implementation of a mandatory rotation embedded in a child advocacy centre with an integrated model of practice

Objective: The concept of Social Pediatrics has long been recognized as an important aspect of the overall approach to a child’s health, yet has only recently become a mandatory component of pediatric residency training. The... [ view full abstract ]

Objective: The concept of Social Pediatrics has long been recognized as an important aspect of the overall approach to a child’s health, yet has only recently become a mandatory component of pediatric residency training. The purpose of this project was to create a rotation in which residents were located in a CAC with police, social service and health working in an integrated model, and use this as the basis for exploration of the social determinants of health. Resident training in this setting has not been described previously in the literature.

Methods: Consultation took place with the University of Calgary Pediatric Residency Training Program, protection and outreach teams based at the Sheldon Kennedy Child Advocacy Centre, and various community agencies. Goals and objectives were created, followed by design of a four week rotation including interactions with police, social workers and public health nurses at the CAC as well as community clinics for children from low income inner city families (medical and dental), street youth, children in care, aboriginal children and refugees. Residents also attended a residential treatment program for children, school-based developmental assessments, transition workshops and a telephone call centre for Social Services. The rotation was initially introduced as a pilot program.

Results: Following the success of the pilot, the rotation became mandatory for all PGY3 residents. Thirty residents have now completed the rotation. Initial challenges included having residents working with providers who were unaccustomed to the presence of a medical trainee. Frequent communication with the stakeholders resolved most of the issues. Feedback from both residents and the various preceptors has been positive.

Conclusions: A successful educational experience, focusing on the social determinants of health, can be created for residents by embedding them in a CAC setting. The next phase of the project was the evaluation of the resident experience.