There are many opportunities for health advocacy in our community. Our program is committed to supporting residents' advocacy efforts.
Our resident outpatient clinic sees over 30,000 patients per year, over 90% of whom are covered by Medicaid. Our clinic's strong staff of social workers helps to coordinate our comprehensive care of children from underserved communities, and educates residents about community agencies that are vital to supporting our patients’ health care. Our dietitian also plays an important role in educating residents about access to nutrition and food choice availability in subsidized nutrition programs.
During their Adolescent Medicine rotation, residents care for patients at The Free Medical Clinic of Greater Cleveland (“The Free Clinic”), whose mission is “to provide quality health care and related services free of charge to those who lack appropriate alternatives, and to advocate for policy changes that make health care available to all.” Residents also have opportunities to gain exposure to other community health organizations and agencies during this rotation, as well as during their behavioral, ambulatory/surgical, and elective rotations. In addition, health policy and advocacy themed noon conferences introduce residents to basic health advocacy concepts.
Residents also have opportunities to design their own advocacy experiences. Our Child Advocacy/Protection elective provides exposure to community health agencies. The International Health Track supports projects in underserved regions in the United States, as well as projects abroad. Many residents' senior research projects focus on advocacy. Some recent examples of self-designed resident advocacy projects include a novel preventative health program for homeless children in Cleveland, an assessment of adolescents’ access to resources at a local rape crisis center, a survey-based assessment of patient and parent perceptions of health information materials distributed in our outpatient clinic, a study on youth violence, and an environmental advocacy project focusing on implementing a sustainability program in our hospital system.