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Our Curriculum

PL-1 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.

PL-2 Rotations

The PL-2 LAUnCH rotations are focused on gaining skills in advocacy and health policy. During their second year, residents also have a half-day a week to work on their longitudinal projects as part of the Research, Education, Advocacy, and Child Health (REACH) Program. They spend this time working on a community health scholarly project, such as cultivating a relationship with a community-based organization that works on their identified health area of concentration and working with them to derive a plan for a healthcare intervention to address this need.

  • Child and Adolescent Protection Center: Residents spend two weeks working at the Freddie Mac Child and Adolescent Protection Center at Children’s National. During this time, residents participate in the evaluation of various forms of child maltreatment for both inpatients and outpatients, learn what a child and family may experience when a report of abuse is made, and observe how a multidisciplinary team works together to meet the needs of vulnerable children. By the end of the rotation, residents are expected to understand what history and physical exam findings are important to elicit, document appropriately in cases of abused children and identify how the local legal system works in relation to abuse cases.
  • Residency Fellowship in Health Policy (George Washington University School of Public Health): This three-week rotation held in conjunction with the GWU School of Public Health gives residents a broad overview of the background and context of health policy in the United States. Residents are introduced to key issues in health policy and to a sampling of key leaders and organizations in the field. The rotation culminates in a health policy analysis exercise where participants perform their own policy analysis and create recommendations related to a current issue being debated by Congress.
  • Global Health Elective: During this one-week rotation, residents are exposed to global health issues such as the diagnosis and management of common illnesses and tropical diseases affecting children in low-resource countries, child and newborn survival, and allocation of limited resources. Additionally, residents meet local healthcare professionals working in the fields of global health research, policy, and clinical care. This rotation also provides residents an opportunity to prepare for international elective experiences or future global health work.
  • The Child Health Advocacy Institute/Advocacy Selective: During this four-week block, residents will be introduced to legislative advocacy and have a hands-on legislative advocacy experience. Didactic sessions will provide an overview of the Child Health Advocacy Institute, the findings of the Community Health Needs Assessment, the priority areas of the Community Health Improvement Plan, the legislative priorities of Children’s National, and the steps to engage in legislative advocacy. Building on this foundation, residents will choose a pediatric health issue and create or adapt a legislative advocacy policy proposal to share with a legislator or member of their staff.

PL-3 Rotations

The main goals of this year are completion of the longitudinal scholarly project, continued development of community pediatrics knowledge and community leadership. 

  • Outpatient Acute Care (OAC): Residents again spend a full block at their continuity site, not only seeing their own panel of continuity patients but serving as a teacher and mentor to more junior residents and medical students rotating through that clinical setting.  
  • Research Completion: In addition to the continued protected half-day a week to work on their longitudinal project, residents have additional time dedicated to finalizing their project and working on a publication or presentation at a regional or national meeting.  
  • Population Health and Community Leadership: Residents gain population health experience by collaborating with city-wide coalitions, community partnerships and child health advocacy organizations. The rotation teaches residents leadership skills by providing advocacy opportunities focused on how health policy and the legislative process impact child health. During this block, residents give a noon conference presentation on an advocacy topic of their choosing, and may write op-eds, blog posts and legislative testimony.

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.

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.

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.