Our Curriculum
Explore Our Rotations
The goal of the first year of training in the LAUnCH Track is to become familiar with social determinants of health and how they affect the communities we serve. By the end of the first year, residents are expected to identify a community health topic that will be the basis of their longitudinal research project.
- Outpatient Acute Care (OAC): Residents spend one full 4-week block at their community-based continuity site, allowing them the opportunity to learn more in-depth about the community in which they practice, as well as how a community health center functions.
- Community Building Blocks: During this four-week rotation, residents learn skills and techniques that will help them improve the healthcare of children in the community. Each week of the rotation is focused on a different social determinant of health with structured activities with community agencies or community leaders focused on that topic. Residents are also given ample opportunities to plan site visits or virtual experiences with other community organizations of interest. Examples of activities from the past include home visitation, speaking with a local pediatrician about threats to the health of the immigrant populations in our community, and visiting a local public school that has been adapted for children with complex medical needs. In addition, residents receive didactic sessions on the basic concepts of Community-Oriented Primary Care and begin to do a community needs assessment.
Additional Educational and Social Events
Throughout the year, LAUnCH residents participate in a number of events that focus on career development, advocacy skills and community-building within the track. The American Academy of Pediatrics Federal Advocacy Office hosts LAUnCH residents annually for an evening session on advocacy communications and hot topics in child advocacy. A career development and networking event with CHAI Affiliate Faculty offers an opportunity to meet faculty involved in advocacy for potential mentorship and research. LAUnCH track directors coordinate social events for residents to bond with the leadership and one another, and residents also organize fun events among themselves.
Continuity Clinics
Children's National LAUnCH Track residents attend continuity clinics in the community at sites affiliated with the Children's Goldberg Center for Community Pediatric Health in both Northwest and Southeast D.C. as well as Federally Qualified Health Centers in Northwest D.C. Education in continuity clinic sessions is focused on a blend of primary care and community pediatrics. The staff members are very familiar and active within the community they serve. Each site typically has one resident from each year of the LAUnCH track, so residents can interact with peers in the track as well as their community preceptors.
Mentors
At the beginning of their first year, each LAUnCH resident is assigned a Professional and Educational Development advisor who is committed to community pediatrics. As topics for longitudinal projects are identified, residents may seek out additional mentors. Additionally, affiliate faculty members of the Child Health Advocacy Institute are available to offer career advice for our residents.
Primary Care Didactics
During certain outpatient rotations, LAUnCH residents have the opportunity to join colleagues in the Primary Care Track for a once-weekly morning of didactic sessions focused on general primary care pediatrics topics.