GME Health Equity | Children's National Hospital

Health equity is about creating a better future for children and their families.

At Children’s National Hospital, we are committed to training and maintaining a workforce that reflects the very diverse community we serve. In fact, Washington, D.C., is a majority-minority city, where over 50 percent of people living in D.C., identify as Black/African American, close to 10 percent identify as Hispanic/Latinx and 10 percent identify as LGBTQ.

Taking the population that we serve into consideration, diversity in all is paramount to assuring exceptional educational programs and high-quality patient care. We understand the need to assemble trainee cohorts that are as diverse as the population of patients we serve in our nation’s capital.

Principal Components of Our Approach

Keep Health Outcomes at the Center of Our Work

Our core mission as a hospital is to improve the health of our patients. Numerous studies have found meaningful improvements in health outcomes when a patient’s care team mirrors their personal characteristics or experiences, whether that be due to fewer language barriers or increased connection which leads to adherence to medical advice. Hence, to maximize health outcomes, we must diversify the physician workforce, especially in a city as diverse as Washington, D.C.

Increase Health Equity

Enhance Education

Our Graduate Medical Education (GME) program is committed to diversity among our pediatric trainees, as they represent the future pediatrician and pediatric subspecialist workforce. We aim to provide our trainees with best-in-class education program that trains physicians and physician faculty in a way that a more robust skillset in cultural competency and cultural agility, supporting our efforts to ensure a workforce that mirrors our community.

Building a Community of Practice to Help Meet Future Needs

A diverse group of graduate medical education students.

Training A Workforce to Mirror Our Community

Our efforts to create a more diverse residency program have been recognized by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, which honored our Pediatric Residency Program with the 2022 Barbara Ross-Lee, DO Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award.

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