Resident Experience
Provider diversity is one important method of addressing racial and ethnic child health disparities, enhancing cultural sensitivity of all providers and driving institutional and academic excellence. Nationally, the races and ethnicities of U.S. children is more diverse than the pediatricians who provide their care and the difference is anticipated to grow more discordant. The difference is even more marked when considering the academic pediatricians who often are leaders in research, advocacy, public policy, education, quality improvement, patient safety and healthcare administration.
Children’s National Hospital is uniquely situated to address this challenge given its status as a quaternary care free standing children’s hospital serving Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia, Maryland, areas of West Virginia and many international patients. We serve a large, extremely diverse population and have significant community engagement through which to contribute to child health.
At Children’s National Hospital, we know cultural diversity can have a positive effect on patient care through improved communication such as through fewer language barriers, increased patient engagement and adherence to medical advice, and more accurate diagnoses and treatment plans. We appreciate that diversity in our residency program is essential to achieving excellence in our medical education and patient care missions. That’s why it is so important to Children’s National to create an environment where learning and patient care are enhanced by different perspectives.
We have developed multiple pathways to enhance the resident experience within the residency program, our institution, as well as the field of pediatrics and academic pediatrics at large.
Principal Components of Our Approach
Advancing Diversity in Academic Pediatrics
The Advancing Diversity in Academic Pediatrics (ADAP) program was established in 2015 to address the goal of enhancing the diversity of academic pediatricians through exposing senior medical students from races and ethnicities underrepresented in medicine (URM) to academic pediatrics. Through advanced clinical exposure, networking, mentoring and special sessions, participants are armed with the resources and information needed to confidently make decisions regarding their future training and to better serve diverse populations of children.
Through advanced clinical exposure, networking, mentoring and special sessions, participants are armed with the resources and information needed to confidently make decisions regarding their future training and to better serve diverse populations of children.
Recruitment and Retention of Diverse Residents
Children’s National Hospital is located in Washington, D.C., a very diverse city. In fact, 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, we strive to recruit a residency class that reflects this diversity.
We are pleased to continue to enhance our accountability to our local and global community through recruitment of residents who self-identify with races or ethnicities underrepresented in medicine (UIM) and residents with interests and talents that serve this community.
A diverse residency alone doesn’t create an inclusive and equitable environment. However, we strive to create an environment where learning, patient care, and our community are enhanced by different perspectives.
Resident Education
We challenge ourselves to be even more intentional about building a residency program in which residents are empowered to drive the best outcome for every child.
We feel strongly that every pediatrician needs to have the knowledge and skills to recognize and start to dismantle structural inequities regardless of whether they work in community health or critical care. We are intentional about our education efforts, aiming to integrate a framework that supports advocacy and the best possible health outcomes for our patients.
Well-Being and Support of Diverse Residents
Children’s National understands our responsibility to protect our patients from institutional racism. That responsibility extends to our residents, physicians and staff, and we strive to re-envision equity in graduate medical education systems. To that end, we have focused on creating equity through several initiatives designed to build a community of support for all residents through mentor matching, enhance academic advancement for our community at large through professional development events that are available house-wide, and make incremental, data-drive changes.
Residency Program Recognized for Inclusion
Children's National Pediatric Residency Program was recognized by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education with the 2022 Barbara Ross-Lee, DO Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award for our work to diversify the underrepresented physician workforce and create an inclusive workplace.
Contact Us
We aim for all residents to graduate as strong pediatricians equipped with the knowledge and skills to create a better future for children and their families. For more information about the Resident Experience, please reach out to the Pediatric Chief Residents or our Assistant Program Director Shaunte Anum-Addo, M.D.