(Pediatrics in Review. 2008;29:31-32.)
© 2008 American Academy of Pediatrics
Pediatrics in the Community
Community Pediatrics Training Initiative (CPTI)
Jeffrey Kaczorowski, MD
Director, CPTI
American Academy of Pediatrics
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Abstract
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Our inaugural story for Pediatrics in the Community was in the January 2007 edition of Pediatrics in Review. Dr Robert Haggerty provided the historical rationale for community pediatrics training (CPT) as part of that feature. Now, 1 year later, we asked Dr Jeff Kaczorowski, Director of the CPTI at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), to describe the present and future of CPT. As the stories in this series have shown, some residents are having wonderful community experiences already and making a difference in the lives of children in their communities. The challenge is how to make such experiences available to all pediatric residents and pediatricians.—C. Andrew Aligne, MD, MPH, Section Editor
The CPTI was founded 8 years ago by a remarkable pediatrician named Anne Dyson, and in 2005, CPTI moved to the AAP. Our ultimate goal is to ensure that all pediatric training programs develop and sustain quality community experiences that are fully integrated into residency training. Maintaining a community perspective is a critical part of what we need to do in pediatrics to assure the health of all children in the United States.
Residents and young pediatricians across the country have told me that they want this kind of training, and national surveys confirm this significant demand. Residents understand that community and environmental factors play a major role in morbidities such as obesity, mental health problems, child abuse, violence, and injuries. Yet, many residency programs are just beginning to develop training experiences that involve getting outside the hospital into the home and school environments where children spend their days. Programs that have these initial exposures often want to develop the next level, particularly in the areas of legislative/systems-level advocacy and community projects.
CPTI is working on many fronts with numerous partners to accomplish its mission of developing quality CPT experiences at beginning, as well as more advanced, levels. CPTI is partnering with:
- the Ambulatory Pediatric Association to cosponsor the Pediatric Academic Societies’ educational scholars program for present or future faculty in academic pediatrics who have an interest and experience in community pediatrics.
- the AAP CATCH (Community Access to Child Health) program on grants for residency programs to plan and implement community-based child health initiatives, as well as visiting professorships in community pediatrics.
- the AAP Department of Federal Affairs to support five faculty-resident pairs annually to attend the AAP Legislative Conference and then to implement an educational activity on child advocacy in coordination with their local AAP chapter.
- the AAP Council on Community Pediatrics to sponsor the Pediatrics for the 21st Century (Peds-21) Symposium on Community Pediatrics in October 2007, including a resident poster session featuring community-based initiatives.
- the AAP Division of State Government Affairs and Department of Federal Affairs to develop an advocacy guide for pediatricians, pediatric residents, and child health professionals, which will be available in the spring of 2008.
- Pediatrics in Review to sponsor this feature.
CPTI has developed a number of tools to support residency programs, including the Community Pediatrics Curriculum Manual (2005), the Community-based Resident Projects Toolkit (2005), and the CPTI Evaluation Toolkit (2007). CPTI will soon launch a searchable online database of community pediatrics training activities across the nation.
For more information on any of the above or to join the CPTI listserv to receive announcements about grants and other opportunities, go to: http://www.aap.org/commpeds/cpti/ or e-mail: cpti{at}aap.org.
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Figure. These children are participating in a program to help combat obesity and get children more active in Palo Alo, Calif. The residents involved were Heather Iezza, MD, and Maria Mosquera, MD.
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Footnotes
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Author Disclosure
Drs Kaczorowski and Aligne did not disclose any financial relationships relevant to this article.
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